Women in Distress of Broward County, Inc.

For 45 years, Women In Distress of Broward County, Inc. (WID) has been a place where women, children, men, and their pets are able to go for the services needed to heal from domestic abuse. WID’s programs and services reflect the three main objectives described in our mission statement: intervention, education, and advocacy. We currently offer services, including emergency shelter and supportive services like Outreach (therapy, advocacy, and counseling), 24-Hour Crisis Line, Education and Prevention, safety education and planning, and legal services, to domestic violence survivors in English, Spanish, Creole, Russian and Portuguese. All of these free and confidential services are provided regardless of a survivors’ age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, religion, mental or physical disability, veteran or military status, immigration status, language is spoken or socio-economic standing. WID is the only nationally accredited, state-certified, full-service domestic violence agency in Broward County; the largest domestic violence agency in Florida; the only shelter in Southeast Florida to house survivors and pets together; and one of the oldest in the country.

Emergency shelter is at the heart of our organization. Our Emergency Shelter Program houses women, children, and men in need of a safe haven, including members of the LGTBQ community, male teens, and persons with disabilities. Services provided while staying in the emergency shelter are designed to empower survivors to gain control of their lives and work towards building self-sufficient lives free of violence. Women In Distress also offers non-residential Outreach services at five satellite centers around the county that are strategically located in cities experiencing high rates of domestic violence. These satellite offices eliminate an additional barrier to seeking help for survivors who do not have access to transportation and cannot make it to our Deerfield Beach location by providing therapy and advocacy near survivors’ new homes.

Advocates serve as a support system for survivors, both those living in our emergency shelter as well as those healing from the abuse but living in safe homes in the community. They develop safety plans that meet their individualized needs, facilitate support groups, provide case management, and identify services and community resources including securing stable housing, daycare for children, and transportation to help survivors transition out of an abusive relationship and into safety. Last fiscal year, WID completed over 5,000 safety plans for survivors and their children.
Women In Distress Advocates are trained to use the Empowerment Model when delivering services to our participants. They utilize the following advocacy philosophy:
- Respect for all individuals, their customs, beliefs and values, and the decisions they make. We believe that all people are equal and deserve to be treated with mutual respect, regardless of race, gender, cultural or socio-economic standing.
- Every survivor of domestic violence has the right to a safe, secure home and a self-determined future.
- Respect for the confidentiality of all private and personal information.
- A survivor’s self-empowerment is gained through self-directed involvement and leadership. Survivors are encouraged to determine their own path, set their own pace, and make their own decisions regarding access to available services they would like to choose and/or participate in.
- The promotion of self-empowerment is accomplished through knowledge dissemination, training, and advocacy.
- Domestic violence survivors should not be blamed for their victimization and experiences.
- Staff provides services through the strength-based philosophy and collaborates with survivors to build on their strengths to reach their self-determined goals.

Women In Distress has been at the forefront of the fight against domestic violence for more than 45 years. In that time, WID has developed strong partnerships within the community and its surrounding counties, receiving widespread support over the years. To continue to provide our services to survivors free of charge, the agency cultivates and maintains a diverse revenue portfolio that consists of government funding, private and corporate foundation support, individual donors, and thrift store revenue.

As the only nationally accredited, state-certified, full-service domestic violence center in Broward County, we offer these critical services free of charge to families affected by domestic violence no matter their age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, religion, mental or physical disability, veteran or military status, immigration status, language is spoken or socioeconomic standing. All services are confidential and designed to benefit our local communities by developing empowered survivors who are free from the debilitating effects of domestic violence.

Through the support of our community, we have worked together to keep families safe by furthering our mission to end domestic violence for everyone through intervention, education, and advocacy. Women In Distress works to accomplish its mission by providing a 132-bed emergency shelter, onsite pet shelter, 24-hour Crisis Hotline, and a comprehensive Outreach (non-residential) Program that includes: advocacy services, therapy, counseling, legal services, childcare, transportation, and other wrap-around support services for domestic violence survivors. Accommodations are made to meet all language needs, as well as the needs of those with disabilities. Currently, group and individual therapy sessions are available in English, Spanish, Creole, Russian and Portuguese, and sign language interpreters are available to those who require them. Women In Distress of Broward County, Inc. served 4,126 survivors during the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Our Emergency Shelter housed 548 during the year, which consisted of 220 women, 323 children, and 5 males. Our Outreach Services (counseling, therapy, advocacy, legal assistance, and participant support) served 3,578 individuals who did not need to live in our Emergency Shelter for their safety. This included 2,498 women, 1,001 children, and 78 men.

Survivors are provided with the skills necessary to successfully transition from our emergency shelter to self-sufficient, violence-free lives including therapy, advocacy, employment readiness, and housing assistance.
Last fiscal year (2018-2019), Women In Distress provided services to 4,126 adults and children in Broward County. Our Emergency Shelter Program provided 548 participants with 29,486 nights of emergency shelter, which is at the heart of our organization. Our shelter provides survivors not only with the immediate needs of safe shelter, food, and clothing but with the necessary comprehensive services to begin a new life free from domestic
abuse. Our Outreach Program served 3,578 survivors and their children, providing 34,342 hours of counseling, advocacy, and therapy; and we answered 25,370 calls for help on our 24-Hour Crisis Hotline.

All services at Women In Distress are offered at no cost to survivors of domestic violence abuse no matter their age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, age, mental or physical disability, veteran or military status, immigration status, language is spoken, or socio-economic standing. Although there are no income requirements to be eligible for services, approximately 90% of the adults and children served by our agency are low/moderate-income level, in accordance with the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition. All participants in the Women In Distress Emergency Shelter Program are regarded as homeless due to domestic violence abuse and are eligible for governmental benefits such as Free/Reduced Price Lunch, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Food Stamps, etc. In the emergency shelter, 58% of the survivors served were children, with 45% of those served through all of our programs and services being children.