Daya, Inc.
Empowering South Asian Survivors of Abuse
Learn how to support this organization
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Daya's mission is to address the domestic and sexual violence in the South Asian community. The South Asian immigrant community is a growing and diverse community in the Greater Houston area. Domestic violence is a reality but often times it is ignored or silenced. Additional cultural and immigration factors pose challenges for victims of abuse, making it harder for them to access help. Daya addresses the violence and opens up access to survivors of abuse by providing culturally specific services.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Client Services Program
All Services provided by Daya are confidential and free of charge. Daya's Direct Client Services include: helpline, individual counseling, victim advocacy, legal advocacy, rental assistance, long term case management, support groups, translation and interpretation, career and educational assistance, assistance with accessing public benefits, and referrals.
Education and Outreach Program
Daya's Outreach and Training Programs aim to engage and empower communities to address the issue of domestic violence by providing support, education and resources to individuals, families, community advocates, professionals, task forces and religious organizations. Daya hosts trainings and seminars on domestic violence and other issues critical to the South Asian community and hosts events that increase awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault. Daya conducts cultural competency trainings for mainstream organizations and State Agencies including law enforcement and the legal community. Daya works closely with religious leaders, faith communities and survivors of domestic violence to better understand the key issues for the survivors in relation to their faiths. Daya also maintains a strong presence through informational booths and presentations at various South Asian community events.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Department of Justice Accredited 2022
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of counseling clients
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Client Services Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of months of housing assistance
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Client Services Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
2023- 342 months
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Education and Outreach Program
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of phone calls/inquiries
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Client Services Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The 2023 number has decreased as the organization has streamlined data collection to remove duplicate calls.
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Client Services Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Daya's vision is to participate in creating a South Asian community in Houston and beyond that is free from family violence and sexual assault.
We believe that we can accomplish this mission with our two pronged approach. First, we need to be available to serve survivors who are in desperate and dangerous need of immediate physical or emotional resources. Without saving individuals, and keeping our community safe for the most vulnerable, we cannot claim that we are healthy and thriving.
Our second approach is to carefully examine the reasons that violence continues to be perpetuated and change those dynamics. Some negative lessons that are reinforced throughout life include teaching children that violence and punishment is a form of love, that if your partner is “obsessed" with you, it must be because they really care about you and that keeping up the appearance of a happy family is more important than the safety and security of individual family members.
We believe that if given the chance and the example of how to be in a healthy relationship, people will choose to create that for themselves and ultimately create happier and healthier communities.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Daya's strategies are the following programs. Mental Health Services and Case Management in which counselors and advocates use culturally specific techniques to address safety, provide resources and develop strategies to help clients move toward abuse-free lives. Daya's mode of services is trauma-informed and survivor-centered. Daya counselors provide traditional talk therapy as well as innovative mental health modalities such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to treat trauma.
Housing Services Program which addresses that economic dependency is a major factor for women to remain in abusive relationships, providing housing gives survivors the time needed to acquire education, job training, and emotional stability for financial independence. Daya meets immediate housing needs through its partnership with local shelters. For long-term needs, Daya's Housing Advocate builds relationships with potential housing partners (apartment complexes, rental homes) and administers a specific questionnaire to assess each client's risk and need for housing advocacy during the intake. Through the Supportive Housing Program and Rapid Rehousing, Daya provides clients with rental assistance in an effort to help clients break the cycle of violence and regain independence. Legal Services for South Asian survivors of abuse since many are afraid to come forward out of fear of losing immigration status for both themselves and their abusers. Daya's legal clinic is a unique project that connects clients to culturally competent pro bono or low-cost attorneys with whom Daya has forged close partnerships. Daya also partners with legal agencies such as AVDA (Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse), Tahirih Justice Center and Lone Star Legal Aid who provide representation in conjunction with Daya Client Advocates who provide legal advocacy to clients. As a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) accredited agency, Daya's Director of Legal Services is certified to assist clients in filing immigration paperwork.
Community Outreach: The Community Outreach program is prevention focused and strives to inform and engage the South Asian community in the movement to end violence. Daya also challenges the South Asian community to discuss taboo topics toward the goal of awareness and prevention. "Start the Conversation" is a safe space for the community to consider, analyze and confront the issues, challenges and complexities that affect all. Education and Training: Daya provides training in the area of cultural competency, this structure allows Daya to have a larger impact in informing the Houston community about the systems- level experience for immigrant survivors of abuse. This training is provided to service providers, shelters, and law enforcement. Another aim is to increase education provided to partner attorneys on the dynamics of DV/SA in immigrant communities, cultural competency, and the BIA capabilities at Daya.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Daya started as a volunteer-run grass-roots level organization using coffee shops as meeting places, Daya has grown to include seven paid full-time staff members including an Executive Director. Client advocates meet clients in Daya's own office space located in southwest Houston. Daya had a record number of 394 clients in 2017 with 282 new clients, a 40% increase from the previous year. Daya's array of services include counseling and advocacy, legal clinic, housing assistance, education and job training, translation and interpretation services and financial assistance toward rent, food and childcare. An thirteen-member volunteer board governs the operations of Daya. The Staff, Board, Advisory Board and volunteers of Daya, together, represent the major religions and regions of South Asia and can speak in many South Asian languages.
Daya's phenomenal growth can be attributed to the following factors: 1.The agency's unique focus on South Asian population; 2. Its multi-pronged approach to combating domestic violence with direct client advocacy as well as community education and training; 3. Trained and credentialed staff who are also cultural experts with the ability to frame the issue of domestic violence and sexual assault within the community's cultural context; 4. A robust volunteer program that utilizes volunteers as cultural ambassadors in the mainstream community and 5. Strong partnership with local, state-level and national organizations that enables the agency to provide referrals and garner as well as share available resources.
Over the last twenty-one years, Daya has made great strides in getting the South Asian community to have an open dialogue on domestic and sexual violence as well as related issues of addiction and mental health problems. No doubt, these efforts have lessened the stigma of family violence to a certain extent and increased support for victims. Despite the progress, much more remains to be done. The needs and demands of this growing population are only increasing. Daya is at a crucial juncture now, poised and ready to tap into the marginalized sections of the South Asian society as well as the second and third generations of South Asian youth population.
With a track record of over twenty years of dedicated service to the community and a well-earned reputation and support from the community, Daya aims to move forward with its efforts to erase domestic violence in Houston.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In August 2016, Daya hit a major accomplishment by shifting from a Board-run to Executive Director-run organization and current has 7 full-time staff to date, a budget of $500,000 and capacity to serve over 300 clients annually. At the end of 2014, Daya sold their transitional home to create a Supportive Housing Program to help survivors
move into safe and stable housing in an area of their choice, based on safety, school districts, and proximity to support networks. The Supportive Housing Program was more than doubled in August 2017, with the addition of a Rapid Rehousing sub-grant from the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council. In May 2015, Daya became a BIA certified organization and received the SAALT Changemakers Award for their legal clinic and BIA work in April 2017. With increased need for financial accountability due to large public grants (OVW and CJD) in 2014 and 2016, Daya transitioned to the Quickbooks accounting system and will hold their first audit in 2018. Also with regards
to accountability, Daya now uses the Osnium database to house confidential client records, Kindful to track community donors, and secure Google forms to track volunteer hours and outreach efforts. Throughout 2016 and 2017, Daya has worked on rebranding by updating the website, creating outreach videos, creating and distributing new materials for various audiences, and interacting with the community through all major social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter). In 2017, Daya also replaced their annual seminar for more frequent events across a variety of topics related to breaking barriers and social justice. This event series, titled "Start the Conversation" is a safe space for the
community to consider, analyze and confront the issues, challenges and complexities that affect all. In August 2017, Daya worked with training consultant to standardize trainings into well defined modules that can be delivered by any appropriate staff, volunteer, or Board member, allowing the organization to have a larger impact.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Daya, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 01/29/2024
Ms. Fermeen Fazal
Daya Inc.
Term: 2024 - 2026
Viji Raman
Lakshmy Parameswaran
Fatima Mohiuddin
Shree Hardikar Nath
Mika Rao
Asha Desai
Christa Jaganath
Ali Shah
Fermeen Fazal
Soha Haque
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/10/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.