Women's History Month: Organizations providing significant services, primarily for women

March is Women’s History Month, and throughout the month What’sUpNewp will highlight significant women in the region, present and past, and organizations that are providing significant services, primarily for women, from support for those suffering from domestic violence to those providing specific resources for women in business.

Today, we focus on those organizations providing help for those suffering from domestic violence.

“In Newport and Bristol Counties, among our family, friends and neighbors one in four women and one in seven men have been victim of severe physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner,” writes the Women’s Resource Center of Newport. “AND 6,000 TIMES EACH YEAR WRC (Women’s Resource Center) helps with life-altering services and hotline help.”

The Women’s Resource Center is among a handful of agencies statewide providing support for those suffering from domestic abuse. Listed below are some of those organizations, with contact information.

Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center has been providing comprehensive services to victims of domestic abuse in the Blackstone Valley for more than three decades. It is a nonprofit organization that provides education and awareness on domestic violence issues. Phone: 401-723-3057… 24 Hour Hotline: 800.494.8100

Domestic Violence Resource Center of South County is a nonprofit agency that works collaboratively, offering safety, support, advocacy, education and a network of services to the residents of Washington County. The organization says it is dedicated to preventing and responding to domestic violence “by working to change the social conditions, beliefs, and social actions that perpetuate abuse.” Helpline: 401-782-3990 … 24 Hour Hotline: 800.494.8100

Elizabeth Buffum Chace Center is dedicated to ending “the perpetration and societal tolerance of interpersonal violence, including all forms of domestic and sexual abuse, and until that is achieved, to provide comprehensive services to victims and education in the community.” Business phone: 401-738-9700; Hotline: 401-738-1700; 24 Hour Hotline: 800.494.8100

Lucy’s Hearth provides shelter and more for homeless women and their children. Based at 19 Valley Road in Middletown, they are “a 24-hour emergency and transitional shelter for families and their children who are homeless due to economic hardship, family crisis, divorce, eviction, and severe shortage of safe, affordable housing. The primary goal is to foster independence and help the residents gain the life skills necessary to prevent future homelessness”. Phone: 401-847-2021.

Sojourner House helps “clients rebuild their lives, piece by piece, through a variety of services. Our prevention and education programs work within Rhode Island communities, teaching important information on domestic abuse. We also work to raise awareness on many issues related to domestic violence: teen violence, HIV/AIDS prevention, elder abuse, and LGBTQ partner abuse. For these areas, Sojourner House has created specialized services. All our programs work from the premise that violence is an unacceptable means to solving interpersonal conflict, and we encourage only non-violent methods of working out conflicts.” Office number: 401-861-6191. Hotline number: 401-765-3232

Women’s Resource Center, which has been operating since 1977, says its “overarching goal… is that through education and intervention, there will one day be a world without domestic violence.” Phone 401-846-5263.

SOAR (Sisters Overcoming Abusive Relationships), which was established 31 years ago, describes itself as a grassroots task force dedicated to “using their voices and experiences to end domestic violence.” Location: 422 Post Road, Warwick, RI 02888; SOAR Coordinator, Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence 401-467-9940.

This story was originally posted on March 1, 2020. It has been updated.