HEARTLY HOUSE INC

The mission of Heartly House is to end domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and child abuse, and to provide victims with safety, shelter, and supportive services. Heartly House is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to building healthy relationships, families, and communities and providing a continuum of care for survivors. We believe that every person should be free of sexual, domestic, and interpersonal violence/abuse in any and all of its forms and that successful interpersonal relationships must be based upon the mutual respect that recognizes and celebrates the inherent dignity and worth of every individual. We know that the experience of every member of the community has intrinsic value and that it is the responsibility of every employee and volunteer to be respectful to those opinions, comments and suggestions. We must work together in an environment of mutual respect and unwavering support for one another as a cohesive team dedicated and committed to a common cause in order to accomplish our goals. Heartly House provides education to prevent victim blaming both at the societal level and the personal, individual level.
Heartly House has developed several organizational goals that will ensure our success.
• To maintain the continuum of comprehensive services provided including education/outreach, 24-hour hotline, crisis response, safety planning, emergency shelter, counseling, medical accompaniment to the hospital, court accompaniment, and legal advocacy/representation

• To implement services with highly trained, trauma informed staff who utilize “best practices” and evidenced based strategies in the field of victim assistance and the treatment of trauma

• To raise community awareness and provide prevention education to reduce the incidence of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and child abuse

• To evaluate programs and the impact of services provided to victims ensuring ongoing quality improvements and the best possible outcomes

• To maintain an efficient organizational structure and continue to diversify funding streams to ensure the long-term sustainability of Heartly House services

Crisis Workers respond to hotline calls 24/7. They listen, support without judgement, educate, and offer services. Heartly House receives an average of 600 hotline calls per month. For those in the middle of a crisis and not yet ready to engage in counseling services, we offer several in person crisis intervention appointments. At these appointments, victims often are very emotional and highly stressed due to recent events. Crisis Workers listen, validate their feelings/concerns, provide safety planning, educate them about civil remedies, and connect them to counseling, emergency shelter, and/or legal services as needed.
Our Emergency shelter has 24/7 access for victims that are in immediate danger. A victim who has just left their abuser is at their greatest risk of harm up to and including death at this time. Our shelter capacity is 29 beds, 4 bathrooms, shared living and dining room, kitchen, laundry room, playroom, and an outdoor play yard. The shelter has 24-hour security. All personal supply needs are met. Service Coordinators work with shelter clients to connect them to resources and support them in achieving their individual goals. Over 80% of our shelter clients exit with the ability to meet the basic needs of their family, increased safety skills, and improved emotional well-being.
Victims can also access medical accompaniment & advocacy services at the hospital for treatment and a forensic exam. Advocates explain the forensic process, provide emotional support/education, make referrals, and follow up to offer additional support.
Our counseling department provides group/individual counseling for adults/children. Groups for adults are open and continuous so that a new client can access these supports quickly. Individual counseling is offered on a short-term basis. Counselors utilize evidenced based clinical interventions for treatment of trauma. These include art/sand tray/play therapy, animal assisted therapy for children, cognitive behavioral techniques, stages of change interventions, mindfulness strategies, and EMDR therapy.
The legal department answers legal questions & explains victim's rights. Advocates provide court accompaniment, information on courthouse protocols, education on civil/legal remedies, safety planning, and case preparation. Heartly House attorneys provide legal representation for protective/ peace order hearings and family law cases. There is no cost to the victim for any of our services.
The Engagement Department educates the community in order to increase awareness, the first step in prevention. Through a comprehensive strategy via social media, digital and print ads, along with tailored trainings, and participation in community events, our goal is to meet individuals where they are and engage/educate.
The Abuse Intervention Program is an ongoing, 26-session educational group for men who have displayed abusive behavior and participants are charged a fee.

Heartly House has been providing services for victims of domestic and sexual abuse for 40 years. With the support of state, federal, and local funding, we are fortunate to have the resources in place to be able to meet many of the needs in our community. Our greatest resource is our staff. Heartly House's management team is comprised of the Executive Director, Clinical Services Director, Residential Services Director, Crisis Services Director, Legal Services Director, Finance Director, and the Development Director. Our leadership team combined has over 100 years of experience providing services to victims. Many of our leadership and direct service staff have worked for us for decades, dedicating their life’s work to supporting survivors. Many have been honored with individual awards for their work in this field.
To meet the growing need in the Hispanic/Latino community in Frederick, Heartly House has two Crisis Workers, a Part Time Service Coordinator, a Legal Advocate, and a Clinical Counselor who are bilingual in English/Spanish.
Heartly House is the local expert on treating the impact of trauma. We offer specialized therapeutic inventions through individual and group counseling for adults and children. Our group and individual therapies offer many interventions including psycho-education, individualized emotional and physical safety planning, cognitive behavioral techniques, mindfulness practices, coping strategies, art therapy, life skills development, EMDR therapy, trauma informed yoga, and animal assist therapy. Heartly House offers counseling for women who speak Spanish, groups for LGBTQ+ survivors, and a male survivor group for childhood sexual abuse.
A national report issued by the Office of the Vice President in 2014 to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) highlighted Heartly House as an example of successful programs throughout the nation. We were one of only three centers in the State of Maryland to receive this national recognition.
In October 2014, the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence (MNADV) selected Heartly House as the recipient of its Lethality Assessment Program Award. MNADV announced it selected Heartly House in recognition of its high standard of performance in providing safety and empowerment to high-risk victims of domestic violence. MNADV singled out Frederick County, saying: “Heartly House has set an incredibly high bar for the rest of the state and the rest of the country.” We are working to end sexual, domestic, and interpersonal violence and abuse in all of its forms and every day we get close to these goals with the steps we have taken above.
Heartly House is recently addressing the needs of human trafficking survivors. We have a Human Trafficking Services Coordinator who provides support and services to victims and also coordinates the collaborative work done by the Frederick County Human Trafficking Response Team.

The following provides a broad picture of the volume and scope of victim services provided and therefore gives a numerical approach at explaining our progress. In fiscal year 2019, we provided services to over 1,100 victims of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and child abuse. Eight hundred and twelve (812) of these were new clients this fiscal year. The following delineates a breakdown of specific services provided:
Responded to 5947 hotline calls
Followed up with victims to check on their well-being 1,824 times
116 medical accompaniments at the hospital for the forensic exam process
93 in person crisis intervention appointments
43 adults and 35 children (78 people) who were in immediate physical danger found safety in our emergency shelter for a total of 2,441 bed nights
2276 counseling sessions were provided by the clinical counseling team and counseling interns
Provided legal advocacy services to 507 clients which included education about their rights and the law and support navigating the court system
242 court representations in Protective Order hearings and 26 legal representations in matters of family law
1163 total victims were screened through the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) of which 678 victims (58%) were identified at the highest risk of being killed by their partner – Services are prioritized for victims who are the highest risk of harm.
Educated and raised awareness for thousands of Frederick County citizens through community events, presentations, campaigns, discussion panels, and social media.
Outcomes:
83% of shelter clients were able to meet their basic needs upon existing shelter
93% of shelter clients pursued 1 or more safety strategies during their shelter stay
96% of clients receiving medial accompaniment at the hospital reported increased knowledge on planning for their safety
75% of clients who experienced a sexual assault and received medical advocacy and accompaniment during the hospital forensic exam process, reported the crime to law enforcement
74% of clients who were injured due to domestic violence and received medical advocacy and accompaniment during the hospital forensic exam process, reported the crime to law enforcement
95% of clients who received counseling agreed/strongly agreed that the counseling they received helped improve their situation
89% of clients who received counseling agreed/strongly agreed that they are more knowledgeable about how to plan for their safety
95% of counseling clients feel safer as a result of Heartly House services.
Ideally, we will see the number of clients served by hotline services increasing due to increase community outreach and education. Assuming we can grow our financial resources, we feel the needs for increasing services are in counseling and legal services in particular.