Safety & Intervention

Ensuring that our community is safe is a high priority of United Way of Whatcom County. We support programs that provide safety and education for domestic violence and assault survivors to promote prevention of abuse and a safer, more secure community. We also support programs that provide crisis intervention and advocate on behalf of abuse survivors. Read their stories here.

Why do we support these programs?

Whatcom County law enforcement officials reported 9.5 domestic violence offenses per 1,000 residents in 2004. According to the Womencare Shelter and Domestic Violence Services, 50%  of women will be battered by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

For every 100,000 deaths in Whatcom County, 12.3 were due to suicide in 2004. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death among adults in the U.S. and the third leading cause of death among youths ages 15 to 24.

More than 600 reports of juvenile runaways are filed each year in Whatcom County. According to Northwest Youth Services, the organization's 24-hour hotline for youth handles approximately

Brigid Collins

• Family Support Team
     Works to connect parents to community resources, reduce family isolation and educate parents 
     on family management and parenting skills.

• Foster Parent Relationship

     Works to connect foster parents to community resources, reduce family isolation and educate
     foster parents on family management and parenting skills.

• Parents Helping Parents

     Stable parents help less-established parents to reduce family isolation and improve family
     management and parenting skills.

• Healthy Families Whatcom County
     Promotes community resources for parents to build strengths and address issues.

Catholic Community Services NW

• Hope House

     Distributes bag lunches, clothing and weather-protection supplies to people who live outdoors.
     Also provides access to health and hygiene items that cannot be purchased with food stamps.
  
  

• Supervised Visitation Program
     Provides safe parent-child access in a low-stress environment while promoting the legal
     compliance of the parents.
  
  

• Mental Health and Care Management Services
     Ensuring that children and families experience improvement in their safety, stability, as well as
     providing connections to supportive resources.
  

Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of Whatcom County

• Violence & Abuse Prevention Program: Fostering Healthy Relationships in the lives of At Risk Teens
     Provides education to at-risk teens on the dynamics and effects of dating and domestic violence
     as well as information about available resources and ways to use social networks as a positive
     response to the threat of domestic violence.

Lydia Place

• Lydia Place

     Provides shelter for homeless women and children and education in life skills and goal
     development in order to aid their transition to permanent housing.

Northwest Youth Services

• Transitional Living Program

     Provides safe housing and preparation for independence for homeless youth. In addition, it
     ensures that pregnant participants have healthy births and that those in the program who already
     have children improve their parenting skills.

• Safe Home

     Works with children and youth who are at risk of abuse and/or running away and reconnects
     them to safe and appropriate shelter.

• Teen Court
  

     Provides juveniles with a peer-run justice system and works to reduce criminal recidivism among
     offenders. Also educates teens on the role of the legal system in society.

• Treatment Foster Care Wrap-Around
     Facilitates healing for abused, neglected and homeless children of color by connecting them with
     their culture of origin. Connects participants to the community through mentorship programs and
     provides enrichment activities to enhance their skills and self-confidence.

Whatcom Volunteer Center

• Volunteer Chore Program

     Matches volunteers with low-income elders and disabled people to help them maintain their living
     independence and meet needs such as shopping, cleaning and transportation.

• Combined Volunteer Center
     Connects agencies with volunteers to help organizations accomplish their missions while linking
     volunteers to meaningful experiences.

Womencare Shelter and Domestic Violence Services