On the Town: Donations support Adopt-a-Family project
Businesses and organizations brought smiles to many faces this holiday season by donating gift cards, clothing and toys to families served by the YWCA’s domestic violence center and shelter through the Adopt-a-Family project.
The center serves about 2,200 women a year providing case management, individual and group therapy, computer lab time to seek jobs, educational workshops, children’s programs and free legal services, said Tara Peterson, the YWCA’s executive director.
Some women use the services on a drop-in basis, while about 120 women annually complete a six-week educational program and receive a certificate.
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Not all of the center’s clients come from the YWCA’s shelter. Some live with friends and relatives, others are homeless and some are in transitional homes or still living in their residences. About 75% are low income, while 25% are women who have a good income but are working toward independence from an unhealthy relationship.
“These women are not in immediate danger any more. They are in a place of trying to move forward with their lives and trying to heal,” Peterson said. “So we are providing them with emotional support, counseling and resources to help them become more self-sufficient. The reason we do concentrate on those activities is because we do see a correlation between domestic violence and financial instability.”
The emergency crisis shelter serves five families at a time for 45 days in the 10-bed facility.
“The goal is to place a woman and her family in a safe environment after the 45 days,” Peterson said. “We provide about 2,400 nights of shelter and 8,000 meals to about 106 families a year.”
The shelter also provides a domestic violence crisis hotline number that receives more than 1,000 calls annually.
“Women can call for emotional support or if they are trying to see if their relationship is abusive,” she said.
This year, 45 mothers and 95 children were adopted by businesses and community organizations for the Adopt-a-Family holiday project.
Some of the major partners who contributed donations were the Glendale Noon Kiwanis, the Glendale Exchange, which is a networking group of business chief executive officers and nonprofit executive directors, the Robi Corp., J.L.K. Rosenberger and the Burbank League of Women Voters.
“The Glendale Noon Kiwanis provided a grant for $1,500 for the program and individual Kiwanis Club members donated gifts,” Peterson said. “The Robi Corp., a technology company, donated the most holiday gift cards —a little over $600 — and children’s arts supplies and science books.”
A total $6,000 in gift cards were donated by businesses and individuals.
“That was amazing,” Peterson said. “I don’t think we’ve ever had that big of a turnout.”
Families came to the YWCA to pick up their gifts the week before Christmas.
“It was a great atmosphere here, and I think our staff really felt great seeing the looks of appreciation on the clients’ faces,” she said.
Peterson is new to the Glendale YWCA, having started in July. She previously was executive director for the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, based in Sacramento. It is a state advocacy membership organization and its main focus is on domestic violence legislation and policy work. She was there for 10 years, the last five years as executive director.
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JOYCE RUDOLPH can be reached at rudolphjoyce10@gmail.com.