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Your donation supports survivors.

SAVE provided a safe place for Natalie when she had nowhere else to go.

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$5,000 goal

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Natalie’s journey with SAVE started five years ago.

Last month, Natalie* wrote to SAVE to express her gratitude and let us know that the help she received from us changed her life! She shared that when no one was willing to help her, SAVE did. When she had nowhere else to go, SAVE provided a safe place for her.

Natalie’s journey with SAVE started five years ago. She called the Fremont Police Station and immediately connected with our COPS (Community Oriented Prevention Services) advocate. Natalie had already fled from her abuser and needed a safe place to stay. Fortunately, our Safe House had a bed available for her. During the time she stayed with us, she participated in case management and therapy. Months later, she started dental hygiene school, worked part-time, and moved into a room that she was able to rent.

After she left our Safe House, we continued to provide financial support for her tuition and rental support through our Housing First Program. In partnership with her case manager, they devised a plan for her mental, physical, and financial well-being. She graduated from dental school and relocated to Boston, where she passed the state exam and secured a job in a dental office. Today Natalie is working full time; she is a homeowner and moved her parents in with her.

“I still can't imagine how I could achieve what I have today without your support. I think of you and what we have done together. It was meaningful to me with all your support,” Natalie wrote.

For the past 47 years, SAVE has been an essential resource for intimate partner violence survivors. Over the years, we have adapted to meet the ever-changing needs of survivors and the community, always centering our work on people seeking safety. Last year, we served 1,184 adult and child survivors across our four primary services — Crisis Response Services, Counseling Services, Shelter, and Housing Assistance.

How does your donation to SAVE help us support callers on the 24-hour crisis line?

Last year, we received 2,384 calls on the 24-hour crisis line. The call could be a mom who needs shelter, a survivor looking for therapy, a family member who seeks advice for a loved one, a community partner who refers a client to SAVE, and so much more. SAVE has seen a 34% increase in calls to our crisis line. Your donation can ensure we have trained advocates who can answer these calls.

How does your donation to SAVE help us support survivors in finding safe housing?

Homelessness and intimate partner violence are inextricably linked. We hear many stories that the victims stay in abusive relationships because they fear they will have nowhere to go and will become homeless. At SAVE, we find innovative ways to support survivors and their families. We do everything we can to ensure anyone fleeing a violent home has safe refuge, including our Safe House, emergency motels, rental assistance, and emergency housing vouchers. Last year, our Safe House provided shelter to 89 women and children; and Housing First Program provided 121 families with assistance in obtaining and maintaining safe and stable housing. Your donation can support these housing options for survivors seeking safety.

How does your donation to SAVE help us support survivors on their healing journey?

The holistic care we provide survivors addresses not only their physical safety but also their psychological health. You probably could guess that decades of research show that intimate partner violence profoundly affects survivors’ mental health. According to a WHO report, in the US, about two-thirds of women receiving mental health services have experienced violence. Unfortunately, many survivors find these services unhelpful and retraumatizing. Our clinical team provided trauma-informed and survivor-centered counseling to 109 survivors in individual therapy and 74 survivors in support groups last year. Your donation can broaden our reach and expand our capacity.

Your gift to SAVE ensures we can continue to provide critical, holistic, and supportive services in the years to come. I invite you to join our recurring giving program with any amount you are comfortable with. By becoming a monthly donor, you make it possible for us to plan and make decisions based on our available resources, ensuring that we can continue supporting survivors without interruption. Please make a gift with the enclosed envelope or online at www.save-dv.org.

Again, thank you for your generosity and ongoing support of SAVE, our services, and, most importantly, the survivors we serve.


*Names and identifying details have been changed to protect survivor’s privacy.