The Family Place

The Family Place Ends Family Violence and Helps Domestic Abuse Victims Begin Healthy Lives

1 in 15 children get exposed to intimate partner violence and 20 people per minute get physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States each year, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

The story of young Jayden represents what happens to many children when family violence occurs. For a time, his mom and dad didn’t get along. Their relationship was characterized by frequent arguing and yelling. But then one day, the fighting became so intense that Jayden’s mom took him away from their home. 

Jayden’s dad apologized, and Jayden and his mom returned home. And that’s when Jayden’s father began hitting his mom. The physical abuse eventually stopped. Things seemed to be getting better again. But then everything became even worse, and the police were called.

Jayden and his mom were then referred to The Family Place, which provided the resources needed for everyone (including Jayden’s father) to heal and become independent. The organization even had an animal kennel so they could house Jayden’s dog, Max.

Jayden was also assigned a counselor. The specific resources provided to Jayden and his mom remain confidential. However, The Family Place provides crisis counseling, emergency shelter, medical and dental care, early childhood education, job training, life skills training, and so much more.

Jayden’s mom began working again. Jayden, his mom, and Max all got a new home where they felt safe. And Jayden’s dad began learning new skills and coping mechanisms so the cycle of abuse would come to a permanent end.

It’s success stories like these that make The Family Place one of our favorite charities to support!

The Comprehensive Range of Services Offered at The Family Place

What really blows us away about The Family Place is their impressive service offering. It truly offers enough services to help everyone involved in family violence totally rebuild their lives. Nonprofits are typically bootstrapped, struggling to make ends meet, and doing their very best to provide a minimal service level to their clients.

The Family Place’s first notable service is their Resale Shop. Here, volunteers accept and handle material donations of household goods, furniture, and clothing. Where it makes sense, these goods get passed on to clients of The Family Place. Any excess inventory gets sold to the public. And of course, the funds are used to pay for services for clients. To top it off, the Resale Shop is completely run by volunteers!

Dignity at Work, a work training program, helps clients lift themselves out of poverty and gain safe, long-term stability for themselves and their families. The job readiness portion of the program helps many domestic abuse survivors secure employment on their own. However, 1:1 job coaching, and work training classes are available to help survivors succeed as necessary. After they become employed, weekly coaching and mentoring remain available to survivors, so they stay stable in their employment. And to ensure success, the program seeks out employers willing to take on domestic abuse survivors, so a smooth transition occurs.

Interestingly, The Family Place also supports batterers with its Battering Intervention and Prevention Program (BIPP). In this program, batterers learn how to identify, challenge, and change core beliefs that support the use of violence with their intimate partners. The program is fully accredited by the Texas DOJ – Community Justice Assistance Division.

The Child Development Center provides a special curriculum for children five and under. It helps children heal from the emotional trauma and developmental delays that family violence causes. The organization also has a “Safe Campus,” where children grades K-12 can go after school and do their homework without having to worry about discovery by their abusers. Summer programs prevent children from regressing in their education and keep them on a successful track in school and life.

And of course, you can’t have an organization like The Family Place without a 24/7 crisis hotline. As you’d expect, the hotline helps domestic abuse survivors escape their situations. Impressively, the hotline even allows crisis counselors to offer safe transportation to the physical shelter at The Family Place. There, survivors get connected to all the support services they need, including outreach counseling and legal aid.

Yes. You can’t top all the services available at The Family Place.

The Largest Organization of Its Kind in Texas, But Even That’s Not Enough

The Family Place is easily the largest provider of family violence prevention services in Texas.

However, tens of thousands of domestic abuse victims continue to go unserved. The need is simply too great.

For example, 1 in 3 Texans will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. That’s one of the highest rates in the country! If you divide our state’s current population of 28 million by three, that results in nearly 9.3 million people who will benefit from The Family Place’s Services at some point in their lifetime.

Though the efforts of The Family Place are admirable, they simply can’t meet the needs of all Texas with their current resources. In 2021, for example, The Family Place served 9,466 people with 22,851 hours of counseling to nonresidential clients and 65,630 days of emergency shelter.

That’s where you can make a difference. Your financial donations or donation of certain material goods can help people trapped in family violence build new and healthy lives.

Following are direct links with further information on how to make various donations:

1. Make a financial contribution
2. Donate material goods
3. Business giving / corporate engagement