Purpose

Heart & Hope provides resources and skills to victims of domestic violence who have left the perpetrator and are building a new life for themselves and their family. Workshops help parent victims gain parenting skills and confidence, build resilience for themselves and their children, avoid becoming victims in future relationships, strengthen family relationships and envision hope for the future. Workshops help children build social and emotional skills and help prevent them from becoming perpetrators or victims in the future.

Participants Learn

During workshops, adults, youth, and children join their peers in breakout groups with program facilitators trained in child, youth and family development. They complete developmentally appropriate activities and then come together as a large group to complete family-based activities, practicing skills learned in their breakout groups.

Join a Future Program Session

Heart & Hope offers a spring and fall session each year, with September and February start dates. Each session includes nine weekly meetings, each ninety minutes long. To protect participants' privacy, staff share the day, time and location of workshops to participants during the registration process.

Participants may enjoy family meals before workshops begin. Meals are prepared by restaurants and sponsored by local program champions.

Check If You Qualify

Find out if you are eligible for the next Heart & Hope program session.

Parent Topics

mom sitting on bed

Heart & Hope helps parents learn to help their children solve problems related to the trauma their children may have experienced by exposure to domestic violence.

  1. Teambuilding
  2. Communication
  3. Child development
  4. Parenting Styles
  5. Positive Guidance
  6. Emotion Regulation
  7. Problem-solving
  8. Healthy Relationships
  9. Strengthening Families

Children, Youth and Teen Topics

Heart & Hope helps children, youth, and teens 0 to 18 build social and emotional skills and helps prevent them from becoming perpetrators or victims in the future.

  1. Self-awareness
  2. Self-management
  3. Social Awareness
  4. Relationship Skills
  5. Responsible Decision-making

As youth get older, meeting topics expand to include discussions on finding one’s spark, identifying strengths, setting goals, and fostering healthy dating relationships.

Dad fixing his daughter's hair

Families Learn

mother and two daughters sitting on the couch close together

Parents and children learn healthy ways of engaging with each other to promote overall well-being and resilience among family members. Weekly family activities include

  1. Family Fun Jars
  2. Family Show and Tell
  3. Emoji-Thon
  4. Family Meeting Whiteboards
  5. Family Routines
  6. Family Rules
  7. Yoga
  8. Compliment Catch
  9. Family Celebration

Eligibility

Heart & Hope serves victims of past domestic violence, primarily parents and their children. Men and women may be eligible to participate. Parents and children attend the workshops together. If children have to miss a workshop (e.g., visiting another parent or sporting event), parents are encouraged to attend. However, children may not attend workshops without a parent.

Other Adults May Qualify

  1. Caregivers of children exposed to domestic violence.
  2. Adults exposed to domestic violence as children.
  3. Adults exposed to historical, institutional maltreatment.
teen son and mother sitting side by side and smiling

Ineligibility

Adults are not eligible when:

  • Children cannot attend program workshops
  • They have been the perpetrator of domestic violence
  • They are still in an intimate relationship and/or living with the perpetrator

Heart & Hope is not designed for couples who wish to reunify after episodes of domestic violence. Nor is the program designed for couples in healthy relationships who want to attend the program together. If one member of the couple meets eligibility requirements, he or she may be invited to participate in the program. The other member of the couple may be invited to participate in a future program session. This is a wonderful way to support a partner who has experienced domestic violence. This policy is in place to respect the unique dynamics involved in working with victims of domestic violence in a group setting.

Register

Staff will contact you to confirm your eligibility. Community resources will be provided when adults do not meet program qualifications.

Fill out the paperwork to join a future session

Get Involved!

Program champions are needed to help break the cycle of domestic violence.

  • Businesses and donors: sponsor new program sessions to hire and train staff, purchase program supplies, provide family-style meals, secure workshop locations, translate program materials into Spanish, and compensate staff.
  • Nonprofit and government agencies: identify and refer families who may benefit from joining the program.
  • Volunteers: volunteer to distribute promotional material, prepare supplies, assist facilitators in the classroom, mentor adults, serve family-style meals, and set up workshop space.
  • Families: contact us for program session information.
 

Program Champions

The success of Heart & Hope is made possible by the support of public and private stakeholders such as businesses, churches, government and human service agencies, individual donors, non-profit organizations, and local restaurants. They promote and refer families, provide meeting space, donate meals, sponsor program families during Thanksgiving and Christmas, and invest in the program through financial contributions.

List of Champions

To get the latest program news about future sessions, events, and volunteer or donor opportunities.

Join the Heart & Hope listserv