Hope House Celebrates 30 Years of Service

It’s 2013, which means Hope House is celebrating its 30th anniversary!

It’s amazing how far we have come in the last 30 years. We have grown over the years to being the largest provider of domestic violence services in the state of Missouri. We have 122 beds between both of our locations and serve over 10,000 people every year through all of our programming.

We started out in a small house on Truman Road and now have two campuses in Eastern Jackson County. We are humbled as we look at where we’ve been, and excited to think about where we’re going.

We will continue to provide the best quality programming possible for the people we work with everyday. They are the reason we are here and why we work so hard. Our purpose is to help give them the opportunity to have a better life and a safe environment in which to live.

Please help us celebrate our anniversary this year. We will have activities throughout the year to commemorate the milestone we have achieved.  We have come a long way but still have a lot of work to do. Will you join us?

The Bridge SPAN Program

Hope House’s Bridge SPAN program provides on-site, 24 hour on-call advocacy services at four hospitals in Eastern Jackson County, in the Kansas City metro area. We provide emotional support, domestic violence education, safety planning, shelter services, assistance filing for orders of protection, civil/legal referrals, community resources and more.

Victims do not always come into contact with the Bridge SPAN program through the ER. We may respond to calls from labor and delivery, in-patient, radiology, pain clinic, physical therapy or other clinics. We also provide our services to employees and visitors to the hospital. A key component to our program is educating and training medical staff on the screening process and how to provide the best medical care for their patients experiencing domestic violence.

Our program could not exist without our volunteers and on-call staff. They dedicate their time to helping victims of domestic violence. When a call comes in from a hospital, shelter staff will contact the on-call Bridge SPAN person, who then responds to the appropriate hospital, day and night. They help plant the seed of hope and show victims that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Here is an example of someone we helped through the Bridge SPAN program:

Mary* was in ICU after being stabbed by her daughter Lilly’s ex-boyfriend. Mary watched her granddaughter, Zoey, during the day while Lilly worked. Mary worked at night and Lilly during the day, so Zoey was always cared for by one of them.

The ex-boyfriend knew Mary watched Zoey during the day. He broke into Mary’s home with thoughts of kidnapping Zoey and killing Mary. Mary and Lilly were both at home when he came through the front door. Lilly was not hurt physically, but Mary was seriously hurt.

We were able to provide shelter, therapy and legal services to the family, helping them to rebuild their life through this difficult time. Mary was able to leave shelter, move to a new home, and return to work.

If the Bridge SPAN program sounds like something you’d like to be involved in, find out more at http://www.hopehouse.net/donate-your-time-hope-house.

Legislative Breakfast

L-R Missouri Representatives Brent Lasater,
Jeff Grisamore, Noel Torpey, Ira Anders

Hope House hosted a breakfast for our recently installed legislators on January 28th. We had the opportunity to meet our new representatives and re-engage with those who have been in office. 

I love having their undivided attention to discuss what is happening at Hope House. It's a chance for us to say thank you for all that they do for their communities as well as to highlight the work we do, and the obstacles and challenges facing our clients.

We are able to advocate on our client’s behalf and to ensure that their needs are heard. We are extremely fortunate in Eastern Jackson County to have such wonderful representation and concern from our legislators. This is a difficult time for legislators facing another year of budget challenges and having to balance the needs of so many. I appreciate their willingness to come to the table and to hear our concerns.

I want to thank, Representatives Anders, Grisamore, Lasater, McManus, and Torpey; and Senator Kraus for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend our breakfast and tour our facility. I look forward to meeting with them throughout the year as we advocate for those who have been impacted by domestic violence.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

This month is an opportunity for programs that work with the issue of domestic violence to celebrate those who have survived, mourn those who have died, and increase the awareness of the issue.

It continues to amaze and sadden me that there are people in Eastern Jackson County who have not heard about Hope House and are not aware that the largest provider of domestic violence services in the state of Missouri is located within their community.

We still have a lot of work to do to make sure that everyone who is in need knows we’re here for them. This month is an opportunity for us to spread the word about what we’re doing and engage people in helping to stop the violence.

We’ll spend time at community events and health fairs, and with service organizations and businesses who give us the opportunity to talk about domestic violence and what we are doing to break the cycle.

If you have an opportunity to wear purple during the month of October to show your support of those who have been impacted by domestic violence, please do so. If you would like someone to speak to your group about domestic violence, let us know and we’ll be happy to be there.

As we raise awareness this month, we look forward to the day that we no longer lose a life due to domestic violence.

National Crime Victims' Rights Week

April 18th-24th is National Crime Victim’s Rights Week. Started in 1981, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) has brought much needed attention to the victims of crime, their families and the professionals who serve them.

Domestic violence is a crime, as we all know. This week of recognition and support to crime victims is very important to Hope House as a way to honor and recognize the journey of all of those who have been impacted by crime.

This year’s theme—“Crime Victims’ Rights: Fairness. Dignity. Respect”, are themes that we at Hope House work toward every day. We work to ensure that every victim that comes into our services feels they have been treated with fairness, dignity and respect, from us as a service provider.

These are fundamental rights that everyone should have but especially those who have been traumatized and victimized. This week is an opportunity for the nation to reflect on those who have been victimized and work to address disparities in the system to ensure that the victimization doesn’t continue as they begin the process of recovery.

In Eastern Jackson County we are fortunate to work with dedicated and caring professionals such as:

1) Law enforcement, who work to apprehend and charge the perpetrator.
2) The prosecutor, who works to ensure justice through the court process.
3) The health care professional who is working to heal physical injuries.

Each of them have the goal of providing quality, competent services to victims and to work to start the healing process and the road to recovery. It is our priority to put the crime victim’s needs first, to address their needs holistically and to ensure recovery from the victimization.

On our campuses we have visual and daily reminders of the thoughtfulness of others during NCVRW. We have a beautiful water garden where clients can sit, reflect and work toward recovery. That garden started out as a bird bath, but through the work of dedicated individuals and the generosity of many, it now brings beauty to the campus and honors those who have been victims of crime. Every time I see it, I am reminded of the work we do and the commitment and caring of others who made the garden a possibility and made the healing journey one of beauty and peace.

I invite you to take time during this week to reflect on the journey that crime victim’s must make and look for ways to get involved and to help make that journey a bit easier. You can visit our website http://www.hopehouse.net/ or for resource guides specific to crime victim’s week visit http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ncvrw or http://www.ncvc.org/.