Advancing Healing and Safety
In 1979, YWCA Evansville opened the area’s first domestic violence shelter. Over the past 42 years, we have provided services on a 24-hour/365-days basis. Many of our survivors find themselves homeless, unemployed, facing extreme poverty, and without a support system. Therefore, our family advocates offer counseling, case management, legal advocacy and education in addition to basic necessities like food, clothing and personal care items to support survivors as they work to rebuild their lives. Our child advocate provides play therapy, tutoring, school advocacy, assessments and referrals. If there is room in the shelter, we also provide emergency housing and services to women who are homeless due to reasons other than domestic violence and we operate a 24-hour crisis hotline.
Funding for this program is provided by ESG funds through the City of Evansville and the Department of Metropolitan Development as well as the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and generous donors.
Domestic Violence & Emergency Housing
Weekly “Choices” classes are offered in collaboration with Albion Fellows Bacon Center at the YWCA for survivors of domestic violence. This class is open to survivors who are not living in our shelter as well as those who are YWCA shelter residents. Classes help participants evaluate their relationships to understand the cycle of abuse and learn how to make good decisions to build healthy relationships going forward. One on one victim advocacy and case management is also available if needed.
Clients also attend our weekly “Healthy Relationships” interactive course where they gain knowledge of what green flags to look for when determining if a relationship is healthy or unhealthy. Participants learn to set healthy boundaries within all of their interpersonal relationships and ultimately complete the course feeling empowered to take control of their choices, bodies and lives. In addition, a weekly “Woman’s and Mother’s” group offers a flexible curriculum that focuses on the needs of its current participants.
Many of our survivors have a history of addiction and they choose to participate in our recovery services. YWCA partners with Counseling for Change to offer dual assessment and group meetings on-site three days per week.
For information about YWCA’s class offerings, please call (812) 422-1191.
Groups and Classes
Domestic Violence Awareness Month & Chalk It Up to Awareness Campaign
Each October, YWCA Evansville joins the national movement to bring attention to the problem of domestic violence through awareness campaigns and events. In 2021, local businesses and organizations once again participated in our annual community-wide Chalk It Up to Awareness campaign. Using anti-violence slogans, statistics, and sidewalk chalk, community members helped us raise awareness about domestic violence through beautiful artwork. A special event was also held in downtown Evansville where volunteers chalked up Main Street before Mayor Lloyd Winnecke issued a Domestic Violence Awareness Month proclamation. To honor those who sought safety within our facility, YWCA Evansville also placed purple flags along the perimeter of our facility during the month of October.
