(Oneida, NY – Oct. 2013) Oneida’s Liberty Resources, a domestic violence shelter, recently received a $20,000 grant from the Mary Kay Foundation to advance their work aiding victims of family violence.
They were one of eight agencies in New York to receive funding from the Mary Kay Foundation and will use the grant to renovate the shelter’s kitchen and living spaces. Liberty Resources currently houses 14 women and 16 children who are seeking a safe haven from abuse.
Other New York agencies to receive funding from the Mary Kay Foundation include:
Alternatives for Battered Women – Rochester
Domestic Violence Resource Center (DVRC) of Saratoga County – Saratoga Springs
Family & Children’s Services of Niagara – Niagara Falls
New York Asian Women’s Center – New York
Safe Homes of Orange County – Newburgh
The Retreat Inc – Rieverhead
YWCA of Niagara – Lockport
Mary Kay Foundation Announces $3 Million in Grants to Domestic Violence Shelters During Mary Kay’s 50th Anniversary Year
DALLAS – For Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, The Mary Kay FoundationSM has awarded $3 million in grants to 150 domestic violence shelters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each shelter will receive a $20,000 unrestricted grant to maintain critical services and programs for individuals who are survivors of domestic abuse.
While more than half of the grant recipients use the funds for basic operating expenses, others are working to hire much needed personnel, complete repairs and facility renovations or add additional programs and resources based on the needs of their shelter.
“The Mary Kay FoundationSM is proud to support local shelters that are on the front lines of helping the thousands of women and children who seek shelter and support from abuse,” said Anne Crews, Vice President of Government Relations for Mary Kay Inc. and board member for The Mary Kay FoundationSM. “The Foundation grants are a signature program for us and represent just one of the ways we are committed to breaking the cycle of domestic violence.”
Earlier this year Mary Kay Inc. released the 2013 Mary Kay Truth About Abuse Survey, which took an in-depth look at domestic violence through the perspective of more than 800 executive directors at women’s shelters across the country. The survey revealed that the cycle of violence is continuing in Generation Y as young women who were in shelters as children are now seeking protection from domestic violence situations as adults.
Some of the grants in the 2013 funding cycle are addressing these findings by working to end the cycle of abuse from one generation to the next.
S.H.A.R.E. House in Douglasville, Ga. is expanding their youth program to address behavioral and trauma issues seen in male children exposed to domestic violence. A Safe Place in Oakland, Ca. will use their grant from the Mary Kay FoundationSM to enhance a public education campaign targeting the trend of domestic violence and abuse among youngsters in Alameda County. The Communication Action Program in Lancaster, Pa. and Safe Journey in Union City, Pa. are working to expand their youth services with the addition of child advocates to help children cope with the effects of domestic violence. Safe Journey is also upgrading the children’s playroom to give their young clients a place to heal.
Additionally, the survey reported that many women are staying in shelters for longer periods of time because of limited access to resources, preventing other women from receiving needed assistance. As fewer women are able to seek shelter, more women are staying in or going back to violent and dangerous situations.
“Many of the shelters had to turn away women and children, and this is why it is so important for organizations and companies to supply critical funds to women’s shelters,” said Crews. “Shelters need funding to not only house women and children who are in need, but also offer programs that help prevent abuse.”
For nearly 20 years The Mary Kay FoundationSM has supported the prevention and elimination of domestic violence, an epidemic that touches one in every four women in her lifetime. Through the Foundation’s annual shelter grant program, $34 million has been granted to domestic violence organizations since 2000. Each year, grants are awarded to at least one domestic violence shelter in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Remaining grants are distributed based on state population.