Chicagoland

Catholic Charities offers help, safe spaces for victims of domestic violence

By Michelle Martin | Staff writer
Thursday, October 17, 2024

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and advocates are using the annual observance to encourage people to talk more about the problem.

“We need people to read about it, talk about it and speak up against it,” said Laura Kuever, associate vice president of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. “Domestic violence is still under so much secrecy. No one wants anyone else to know that they feel unsafe at their home. We have to create safe spaces in parishes so people know that if they say they are unsafe at home, they’ll be believed and someone will call Catholic Charities with them.”

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago has two transitional shelters for women and their families who are survivors of domestic violence, one in Chicago and one in Waukegan, and also provides outpatient counseling for survivors of domestic violence.

Kuever, whose area is empowering families, said she was stunned to see a report from the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence that said domestic violence homicides in the state increased 110% in 2023. According to the coalition, 120 people died in 94 separate domestic violence incidents in that year.

In May, the Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence reported that calls to the Illinois domestic violence hotline had increased 90% above pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, with requests for emergency shelter increasing 45%, although shelter beds are not always available.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, about one in four women and one in seven men will experience intimate partner violence during their lifetimes, and one in three women will experience some form of sexual violence.

At House of the Good Shepherd, Catholic Charities’ Chicago transitional shelter, there is accommodation for 14 families, usually a mother and one or more children, at a time. Families can stay for up to two years while they move toward self-sufficiency, although the average stay is about a year, Kuever said.

The Waukegan House of Peace, for Spanish-speaking women who are domestic violence survivors, can accommodate six families at a time, and they can stay for up to six months.

“Our hope is that we are providing a safe space for families to come to us for help and healing,” Kuever said. “Most of the families that come to us are directly fleeing from an abusive situation. We want to provide that sense of safety first.

“As they start to heal, we work on the things that will make them self-sufficient,” including having a steady income and the life skills they need to care for their families and themselves, she said.

Both shelters provide aftercare for families who have stayed there, bringing them back for usually monthly sessions to help them stay on track. That also helps families who have recently arrived see that there is a path to moving on, Kuever said.

Outpatient counseling offerings include individual and family therapy for clients of all ages, starting at about 3 years old, and group support.

“Sometimes what a client needs is to be able to look across the room and see that someone else has recovered from the same thing,” Kuever said. “Group services help people to feel not alone, and it gives people hope to see someone who is further along in their healing.”

One reason Kuever encourages people and parishes to talk more about domestic violence is to help victims be aware that they are not alone, and there are people who will help instead of judge them.

“People get a little judgy about, ‘Why don’t they just leave? Why do they keep going back?’” she said, noting that abusers exert extreme control over their victims. “Although they know they’re unsafe, and they are scared every day for themselves and their children, they are concerned that they literally cannot survive if they leave. It makes it so difficult for them to envision an existence outside this situation.”

If you or someone you know is a survivor of domestic violence seeking healing and recovery, please call the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline at 877-863-6338 or Catholic Charities’ domestic violence intake line at 312-655-7106.

Topics:

  • catholic charities
  • domestic violence

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