Transitioning Times

Lewisburg, PA (November 1, 2013) – The Allstate® Foundation has awarded $7,500 to Transitions for economic empowerment programs for domestic violence victims to be conducted in 2014. Transitions is a comprehensive crime victims services center that provides education programs and direct services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and other serious crimes in Union, Snyder, and Northumberland counties.  Transitions operates two domestic violence shelters and houses 110 adult and child victims annually.  Last year, Transitions provide services to almost 2,700 individuals. Transitions will utilize funds from the Allstate® Foundation Grant to reduce barriers for domestic violence survivors by offering Allstate’s Moving Ahead through Financial Empowerment program in Union, Snyder, and Northumberland counties, Pennsylvania.  Providing financial management training to those living in poverty will assist victims and survivors of domestic violence develo...

When individuals recognize the abuse in their lives, they frequently reach out to others for help. Victims of abuse may appeal to friends, family, doctors, counselors, Children and Youth workers, Transitions, law enforcement, the courts, etc. or any combination thereof for assistance in ending the violence. Transitions regularly receives referrals from these various sources to provide one of our many services–Legal Advocacy. What does a Legal Advocate do? Simply put… ‘Trained staff provide clarification of the legal process and transactions, assist clients in filing Protection From Abuse (PFA) Orders and accompany victims to court hearings’ (Transitions, 2011). In reality legal advocates provide multiple services in addition to explaining legal options, assisting with paperwork and accompanying to hearings. We also talk about the violence, discuss safety planning with victims, and make referrals to other agencies, which can provide services specific to individuals needs e.g....

Imagine getting physically abused or even raped by someone you thought you trusted. The mere idea of it is enough to send chills down someone’s spine. Yet statistics depict a grave situation where frequencies of such events keep increasing at a staggering rate. The Clothesline Project, established in 1990 by a coalition of women who had suffered some form of domestic abuse, has become one of the many prolific means of relating stories of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. With 500 projects in 41 states and 51 countries, the Project involves survivors to write messages on shirts regarding their experience with domestic violence or sexual abuse and hang them on a clothesline. Supporters of survivors can also write encouraging messages to boost self-esteem of survivors and also to commemorate victims who had passed away because of domestic violence and assault. The uniqueness of the project lies in the fact that it provides freedom to anyone making the shirts in any way t...

The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence recently published a tip sheet in the Spring 2012 edition of PA Academy of Family Physicans Magazine, available on their website on pages 20-21.  They have presented other information about TBI and DV, and continue to be a useful resource.  It estimates that 36% of domestic violence survivors sustain injuries to the head, neck, or face.  The most severeTBI symptoms include post-traumatic amnesia beyond one week, open head injuries, intracranial contusions, lacerations, hematomas, hemorrhages, and diffuse axonal injuries.