More completely, It takes a village to raise a child. The African proverb, which means that it takes an entire community of different people interacting with children in order for a child to experience and grow in a safe environment, can also reference the scale of a difficult task.
Over the last 30 years, The Haven has seen many changes within the sexual and intimate partner violence field. We have grown as an organization to have 24 well-trained and dedicated staff persons working in our emergency shelter facility answering hotline calls and working directly with program participants, providing healthy relationship skills to youth through our prevention programming, managing donations and community outreach in our Thrift Shop, and keeping day to day operations running smoothly in our administrative offices.
Sometimes, this work can be difficult. But with the support of the individuals, allied professionals, and business members that have helped The Haven grow over the years, we are successful in our work and mission to prevent and eliminate all types of intimate partner violence and sexual assault within our service area. Whether it is through the hard work of staff, time donated by volunteers, funding of special projects by local organizations, or partnerships within the community that help bring awareness to our work, we are stronger together.
We are excited to use this blog to spotlight donors and local organizations as well as staff and volunteers that make an impact on our organization and community through their self-less and generous acts of kindness. We will share their stories of how they work to create a "village" that encourages health and safety for its citizens.
As the sole provider of sexual assault and domestic violence shelter and community-based advocacy services in the Northern Neck and Essex County, The Haven relies on community support in order to serve the growing need for free, vital services offered to individuals who have experienced sexual and domestic violence in our community. For more information visit havenshelter.org or call 804-333-1099.