Doorways

In 2022, we embarked upon a six-month strategic planning process to shape Doorways’ strategic plan for fiscal years 2023 to 2025. Our goal was to build on the strong foundation Doorways established over the first 40+ years and to shape the organization moving forward. A broad range of stakeholders contributed, including Doorways clients, volunteers, staff, and board. Results reaffirmed Doorways’ vision, mission, and values, and solidified our direction for upcoming years.

The goals of our 2023-2025 strategic plan include expanding the reach and impact of our prevention services; strengthening our domestic and sexual violence and Housing First programs; and expanding safehousing solutions.

Doorways’ 2023-2025 strategic plan is grounded in 5 Pillars – Programs and Services, Workforce and Culture, Training and Processes, Funding and Communications, and Technology and Infrastructure. The plan focuses efforts to heal, celebrate, and sustain; strengthen and maintain; and build and grow:

Year One (2023): Heal, Celebrate, and Sustain – As Doorways and the rest of the world slowly emerge from COVID-19 crisis, we recognize the tremendous challenges the organization, our people, and our clients have faced during this time. We are focusing on strengthening our culture, hiring and retaining staff, instilling trauma-informed practices via enhanced training, and expanding the reach and impact of our prevention services.

Year Two (2024): Strengthen and Maintain – We will focus on strengthening domestic violence and sexual violence programs and services, fueling high performing teams, relocating the administrative offices (due to current space being slated for demolition in 2024), and improving operational resilience.

Year Three (2025): Build and Grow – We will focus on expanding the Safehouse, building our HomeStart services, elevating our brand, solidifying our financial strength, and evaluating our capacity to expand domestic violence and sexual violence programs and services.

Doorways has an annual budget of more than $5 million. Doorways is fortunate to receive support from a diverse group of funders, including government, private foundations, individual donors, corporations, in-kind/pro-bono, and special events.

Doorways employs a staff of about 50 people and engages a corps of more than 100 volunteers with governance and guidance from a very engaged Board of Directors. Our specially trained volunteers provide shift coverage at our shelters, answer the 24-Hour Domestic & Sexual Violence Hotline, accompany survivors for forensic exams at the hospital, provide childcare while parents are attending house or support groups, and more. Volunteers also assist with fundraising and special events, serve on committees, etc.

Doorways' programs are grounded in trauma-informed, evidence-based models that yield optimal outcomes in areas of child welfare, family preservation, family violence intervention, Housing First, financial literacy, and client empowerment. Together, these practices have created a winning formula for innovative client service delivery that leads most families served by Doorways from crisis to stability.

Each year, thousands of adults, youth, and children are impacted by Doorways' 24-hour hotline or served through counseling, court advocacy, or hospital accompaniment. Doorways shelters and houses hundreds of people each year. Dedicated staff coordinate services for every client, including children, within and beyond Doorways.

In response to qualitative and quantitative data, Doorways continues to evolve both its response and its strategies for assessing its response to the challenges of homelessness, domestic violence, and sexual assault. Obstacles to achieving our goals more fully include the dire lack of affordable housing in one of the nation's most expensive rental markets.