|
Protective Order Filing  "I’ve been assisting a victim of domestic violence that has experienced psychological abuse, verbal abuse, and stalking. They have been overwhelmed and struggling to do their daily tasks. Their primary concern was working on safety and self-sufficiency. It was important to them that they were able to move past this as soon as possible. The victim wanted a protective order because their abuser was not leaving them alone and seemed to be getting more unstable as the incidents continued. I was able to schedule the protective order appointment soon after originally connecting with the victim. They were so thankful we could get them in quickly. During the appointment, I was able to explain each step of the petition and answer all the questions the victim had regarding the process. The victim was very thankful for the assistance with filing the protective order. They felt more confident about what to expect after I explained the next steps for the protective order process. The victim also told me they finally felt less alone. They really have not talked to many people about their experiences, so they felt better having an agency that believed them. I will continue working with this victim throughout the process to support them and offer additional resources."
Victim Advocate - Beacon of Hope Crisis Center If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence and/or sexual assault, call our confidential hotline at (317) 731-6140. Victim advocates are trained to provide free help, referrals, and resources for those in need. There is hope for survivors. In the case of an emergency, please call 9-1-1. Criminal Justice Advocacy  "I connected with a victim of domestic violence after receiving a police report. The victim had been shot by their abuser and needed assistance with establishing safety and coping with the trauma they experienced. Their abuser has used weapons as a scare tactic throughout their relationship, and the violence has escalated tremendously.
Once connected with the victim, I introduced myself and explained the services provided at BOHCC as well as their rights as a victim. We discussed how they could stay updated on the criminal case. I also gathered additional information about the situation so I could have a complete understanding to better assist the victim. As we were talking, the victim became emotional and started to cry. I immediately stopped asking questions and focused on what the victim needed in that moment. I actively listened to their concerns and how they were feeling. They were frustrated by everything and felt pressured by others. The victim shared with me that they felt as if their feelings were not valid. They were being told how they should feel about the situation and this was causing them to be confused about their own thoughts. I quickly validated their feelings and expressed that they are the only one who went through this experience, so they are the only one who can know what to think about it. I discussed counseling and ensured they had the information for BOHCC’s counselor. The victim started to calm down and felt relieved to hear that their concerns and thoughts are valid. They hadn't been able to be open with someone about the situation, and they were grateful to have someone to talk to about everything. The victim thanked me for listening to them and validating their feelings. They appreciated having someone to talk to without feeling judged. The victim has felt a lot of pressure from various sources and needed to share their thoughts without judgment. I was happy to be a support for the victim and listen actively to their concerns. I will continue to work with the victim as they progress towards safety and self-sufficiency. It feels rewarding to be an outlet that victims can vent to and to be able to provide a comfortable space for them to share their thoughts." Victim Advocate - Beacon of Hope Crisis Center If you or a loved one needs supportive services for domestic violence or sexual assault, call our confidential crisis line at 317-731-6140. In the case of an emergency, contact 9-1-1 immediately. If you would like to learn more about the work we are doing, register and join us during our Virtual Summit on October 26th. #DVAM We Serve Everyone  "I recently assisted a victim of domestic violence with filing a Protection Order against their former intimate partner. The victim had been facing ongoing and escalating harassment from their abuser since they had been granted full legal and physical custody of their shared child. Their abuser would contact them multiple times a day claiming to want to see their child, but when the victim would take their shared child to visitations with the abuser, the abuser would spend the visitation yelling at the victim and has even physically attacked the victim. The victim was fearful of their abuser and stated that they dreaded every visitation with their abuser because they knew their abuser was going to verbally harass them the entire time.
The victim had reported incidents of abuse to law enforcement but never felt comfortable cooperating with further investigations after the reports because they felt guilty and shameful about the abuse. The victim also never felt that they were truly believed by law enforcement because of their gender identity and the fact that they are physically larger than their abuser. The victim stated that during physically violent incidents, they would just try to minimize the harm done to them and get as far away from their abuser as possible as they never wanted to cause harm to their abuser because that was not how they were raised. Even once the victim’s protection order had been granted, and the judge told them that their abuser served a credible threat to their safety, they still felt shameful for having to file. I was able to let the victim know that there are many victims and survivors of domestic violence that identify as their gender and provided them with statistics backing this information up. Together, we discussed various resources geared towards victims of the same gender identity as the victim. The victim thanked me for always offering them a non-judgmental ear to listen and never making them feel bad for reporting these incidents." Victim Advocate - Beacon of Hope Crisis Center To learn more about how Beacon of Hope Crisis Center is making a positive impact in the community, register and join us during our Virtual Summit on October 26th. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault, call our confidential crisis line at 317-731-6140 to speak with a Victim Advocate. In the case of an emergency, contact 9-1-1 immediately. Emergency Hotel Stay Assistance  "I received a crisis call from a local shelter advocate late one evening. The shelter advocate let me know that they had a victim of domestic violence that recently fled their abuser and had been staying on the streets with their children. The shelter advocate let me know that the victim had called all local shelters and all shelters in the area were at capacity, leaving the victim with no other safe option. I immediately asked to connect with the victim and began our process of requesting an emergency hotel stay for the victim and their children while they wait for shelter placement to become available.
The victim fled their abuser days before with the few belongings they could get out of the home. They and their children had stayed in their car for the past few days, parking in various places due to the abuser stalking them. The victim had nowhere to go and was too fearful to even sleep in their car. After answering all of my questions and telling me their story, the victim began crying. They told me that they were thankful for me even if I was not able to help their family find safe housing that evening because they felt heard. They told me how, in the days since they left, they felt like they were not being treated decently by those they had reached out to for help. I let the victim know I would do everything I could to find them and their children a safe place to stay this evening. When I called the victim less than an hour later to let them know that we booked a hotel room only minutes from where they were, the victim began sobbing. They thanked me profusely and told me I was their "angel." I was very glad to have given the victim and their children a safe place to stay." Victim Advocate - Beacon of Hope Crisis Center To learn more about our Impact on the community, register and join us during our Virtual Summit on October 26th. If you or a loved one needs supportive services for domestic violence or sexual assault, call our confidential crisis line at 317-731-6140. In the case of an emergency, contact 9-1-1 immediately. By: Savannah Archer  We are grateful to have the opportunity to attend the 2022 ICADV Fall Conference focused on centering equity in our work. We look forward to taking what we’ve learned and implementing it in the work we do. #DVAM #DVAM2022 #Every1KnowsSome1
By: Sandra Ziebold  Access has been at the forefront of our business development plan in 2022, so we are incredibly proud to be able to provide Recite Me's innovative assistive technology across our website. 5% of the global population have a disability that can prevent access to online information. Beacon of Hope Crisis Center now provides accessibility tools to enable online visitors to read content barrier-free. Beacon of Hope Crisis Center wants to provide accessibility to everyone. As part of our efforts to make information accessible to all, we have added the Recite Me tool on our website. We want to make sure that every user gets the most out of beaconofhopeindy.org during their visit. Recite Me is an innovative accessibility and language toolbar to make the information on our website easily available and inclusive to allow users to customize our website in the way they need it to work for them and includes text to speech functionality, Dyslexia tools, interactive dictionary, and translations in more than 100 languages. 1 in 10 people speak English as a second language. The Recite Me tool provides people with disabilities a toolbar they can use from any computer or device to better explore our website. Our goal is to ensure that anyone in need of our services can access our services and this website accessibility toolbar is one more step toward helping those who need us find us. To access the Recite Me toolbar on beaconofhopeindy.org, click the accessibility options menu tab near the top of the website or the accessibility icon image on the lower right side of the website. This will engage the Recite Me toolbar which has a range of options for customizing how the website looks and how to access content. Guide To Using Recite Me Screen Reader
Styling
Reading
Translation
|
About this blog
This blog is about our domestic and sexual violence crisis center, Beacon of Hope. We hope you find it full of helpful information, motivation, creativity, serious facts and positivity. We hope that it will help you know what is happening in our center, in our community and with our events. We hope you follow our blog in support of our organization and our mission. Archives
October 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
|
|
CAREER opportunities © 2024 Beacon of Hope Crisis Center Privacy Policy Accessibility Statement Training Portal Login |