La Casa de las Madres

Provides over 10,000 battered women, teens and their children free and multilingual emergency residential and community-based support services -- crisis response, advocacy, counseling, family-based services and referrals -- each year.

How do you help people in my community?

Each year, we utilize strength-based empowerment models to facilitate safety and offer transformative opportunities to heal from and end domestic violence.  In fiscal year 2006-2007 specifically:

• La Casa responded to 5,390 statewide, toll-free Adult and Teen Hotline callers, providing crisis counseling, resources and referrals;
• 564 victims of abuse accepted the crisis intervention or follow-up assistance of La Casa’s Domestic Violence Response Team;
• 157 women and 170 children received safe shelter, food, clothing, advocacy, counseling and family-based services through our 35-bed, eight (8) week Emergency Shelter;
• 443 survivors received practical and emotional support through the Drop-In Counseling Center; Among them, 29 families participated in the Safe Havens Project gaining assistance to develop and implement safe, shared custody arrangements with their batterers; 
• 160 adolescents participated in 1,017 individual and group therapeutic activities of the Teen Program;
• The Mary Elizabeth Inn Case Management Program offered housing stability, community-building and emotional support services to residents of the 88-room Inn;
• The Safe Housing Project engaged 18 permanent family supportive housing sites in activities to empower residents in creating communities that foster and demand violence free lives; and
• The Community Education and Outreach Program conducted 350 domestic violence trainings, healthy relationship workshops and service presentations.

Please visit www.lacasadelasmadres.org for more information.

Why do you need my support?

We need your support because each hour and each dollar is essential to our clients as they strive to create safe and healthy, violence-free lives.  La Casa’s efforts toward ending violence against women, girls and children rely heavily upon community support.  Volunteers provide invaluable programmatic support, and La Casa receives nearly half of our funding from individuals, just like you, offering one-time contributions or monthly installments to support our programs. 

We need your support because violence in the home is a serious threat to women and an urgent public health issue.  In the city of San Francisco, we have the highest rate of domestic violence of all California cities with a population over 150,000 (California Office of Criminal Justice Planning).  In addition, San Francisco's Commission on the Status of Women reports that high numbers of women are turned away from local shelters due to lack of space.  Specifically, La Casa was unable to house 365 eligible women and their families in the last year for lack of space. 

Due to lack of resources, many women and their children are forced to decide between living in a violent home and life on the streets, and San Francisco has the highest housing costs of any county in the United States (San Francisco Tenants’ Union, 2000).  Indeed, domestic violence is the cause of homelessness for 50% of homeless women and children, according to statistics from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Thus, the problems of domestic violence and homelessness are inextricably linked.  With only 71 shelter beds in San Francisco designated for battered women and their children—35 provided through La Casa—each represents a critical resource. 

We, as compassionate citizens, need to provide not only safe shelter for victims of domestic violence but preventative education so that there are no victims of domestic violence, and no abusers.  During the last several years, La Casa has been lucky to afford to build our capacity by purchasing the necessary infrastructure to serve increased client loads.  This year, we ask for your support so that we can continue providing and improving the response to women, teens and children seeking a life free from violence.

How can I be sure that you will use my money wisely and won't waste it?

La Casa takes our role as a steward of public and private funds very seriously.  Our fundraising and administrative overhead costs are consistently under 11%, and we have a proven track record—30 years—of providing critical, accessible and responsive services to victims of domestic violence. 

La Casa receives monthly and annual financial audits conducted by an outside vendor, and our services are participant-driven.  We are committed to soliciting meaningful feedback from our program participants and using that information, from the bottom up and top down, to create better services.  You can be assured that your donation will be used efficiently and effectively to contribute to the eradication of domestic violence.

Can I Volunteer? How?

You can have a direct impact on ending domestic violence in our community by volunteering your time, talent and energy for La Casa!   La Casa welcomes volunteers, relying on their support in each aspect of our work.  We maintain an active core of around 30 men and women who provide support in all program areas, including answering crisis lines, child care during support groups, direct and administrative services at our shelter program and business office, community education and outreach activities, court and social service accompaniment, translation, special projects such as event coordination, website and newsletter design, and leadership through our Board of Directors.

La Casa’s volunteers are trained in 40-hour intensive domestic violence courses held twice a year, usually in February and September.  The comprehensive training is designed to enable volunteers to explore the dynamics of domestic violence and become acquainted with related issues, barriers and sensitivities.  Volunteers exit the training with an in-depth knowledge of domestic violence, a familiarity with the intersections of domestic violence with social, religious, economic, and cultural issues and effective ways to support woman, teen and child victims.

La Casa asks our volunteers for a one-year commitment, which consists of spending 2-4 hours per week at our shelter and/or office.  If you are interested in learning more about our Volunteer Program, contact community outreach at (415) 503-0500 or comed@lacasa.org.