Domestic Violence Agency Receives $98k From the Governor’s Office
New Life Center, one of the largest domestic violence shelters in the country located in the West Valley, is excited to announce it has been awarded a grant of $98,000 from the Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family through the Arizona STOP Violence Against Women Grant.
With the funding, New Life Center aims to address the issues of sexual violence and sex trafficking in western Maricopa County through the West Valley Sexual Assault Response Coordination Project.
“By developing and coordinating a multidisciplinary sexual assault response team, we are hoping to mend the lack of sustained agency collaboration to meet the unique needs of victims of sexual violence and sex trafficking in Maricopa County,” says Jessye Johnson, New Life Center‘s chief strategy and administration officer.
New Life Center will also hire a sexual assault response team project coordinator with the grant to lead the group, assist the organization with continuity of services for victims of sexual violence, and work across programs at New Life Center to ensure that all member agencies involved are providing trauma-informed, survivor-centered, culturally and linguistically appropriate assistance to survivors.
“In addition to our programming, New Life Center is a highly collaborative community partner and has existing relationships with many of the key stakeholders and agencies that will be an integral part of the success of this project,” says Johnson. “We partner with regional and local police departments, prosecution agencies, advocacy centers, and other direct service providers in the region.”
The Arizona STOP Violence Against Women Grant program supports a comprehensive, system-wide approach to domestic violence, sexual assault, and sex trafficking crimes, with an emphasis on underserved populations across Arizona. It is authorized under federal funds through the Violence Against Women Act and administered by the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women.
“We are grateful to all our partners throughout the state of Arizona who are committed to supporting survivors of sexual assault,” says Maria Cristina Fuentes, Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family director. “This funding is critical to supporting efforts that expand and strengthen trauma informed, victim-centered services. We look forward to seeing the impact of these dollars in the West Valley through the work of our partners at New Life Center.”
New Life Center serves more than 1,000 children and adults annually through an emergency shelter and outreach support program, where more than 70 percent of the shelter population is children. In 2017, New Life Center served more children and provided more bed nights than any other single facility providing emergency shelter to domestic violence survivors in Arizona.
To keep up to date with the organization, follow it on Facebook and Instagram. To learn more about New Life Center and what it is doing in the community, visit newlifectr.org.
