Young Women's Christian Assoc of Annapolis & Anne Arundel City MD

The YWCA is the comprehensive domestic violence and sexual assault crisis intervention provider for Anne Arundel County and also supports the surrounding jurisdictions. The organization will provide shelter, safety planning, lethality assessment, hospital accompaniment, legal representation, licensed therapy, abuser intervention and a variety of prevention initiatives. The YWCA will due this through direct service provision (therapists, attorneys, advocates, case managers, and other professionals on staff). Ultimately, the goal is for an individual to have the capacity (financial, emotional, and physical) to leave an abusive home and sustain an independent residence. Health/wellness, financial literacy, education, job skills development, and housing are all key components of the programming of the YWCA.

Provision of Domestic Violence Safe House Shelter, financial literacy training, partnership with housing opportunities (ie. Habitat for Humanity, supported housing, etc), education and job skills training, formal memorandums with partner organizations, working with the continuum through strategic Collective Impact processes (for expansion of service opportunities, and development of onsite education facility to complement shelter services.

The YWCA employs a team of 40 professionals in the areas of law, social work, counseling, advocacy, finance, case management, and support services. All team members have completed the 40 hour trauma-informed care programming (specific to survivors). The organization has been providing services (legal, counseling, and shelter) to victims of abuse since 1979 and is currently supporting almost 10,000 individuals annually.

The YWCA launched a capital campaign in 2014 to establish a new campus for victims/survivors of intimate partner violence. The land (7.5 acres) was acquired in 2015 and the official groundbreaking ceremony was in October of 2017. The 10,000sf residence is on schedule to open in January 2019. The site includes a separate Education & Training Center that will work in close partnership with the local public school and Community College. In 2018, the YWCA became the lead in a Collective Impact initiative. This is a 16-month collaborative process with participants/subject matter experts (on the topic of intimate partner violence) statewide, will pave the way for clarity and prioritized funding to develop and implement a comprehensive continuum of care - removing the barriers for individuals leaving an abusive home.