Domestic violence cuts across all social, economic and educational lines. It affects all ages, ethnic groups and genders.
Our Healing Hearts domestic violence ministry serves women and children who have been affected by domestic violence. In addition to providing shelter referrals, meals, and clothing for those displaced due to domestic violence, we coordinate birthday celebrations for displaced children, special Mother’s Day celebrations, Christmas and holiday parties, and an array of children’s programming in transitional shelters.
We network with other agencies and organizations to offer victims holistic resources to help them recover and rebuild from abusive living situations, and refer counseling and support groups for teenage girls who have been victims of dating abuse.
We aim to bring enrichment to children whose well-being has been threatened by their exposure to domestic violence through social and educational assistance. We bring awareness and advocacy to the community, and help churches become mobilized in addressing the needs of abuse victims.
Would you like to get involved with a ministry that restores hope and dignity to victims of abuse in your community? Contact us about volunteering with Breakaway or bringing this outreach to your area.
Domestic Violence Statistics
- Every 9 seconds a woman is battered in the United States and one in four women experience domestic violence in their lifetime.
- About four in ten female victims of intimate partner violence lived in households with children under age 12.
- Forty percent of teenage girls age 14 to 17 report knowing someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.
- One in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.
- Young women between the ages of 16-24 in dating relationships experience the highest rate of domestic violence and sexual assault.
- 15.5 million children in the United States live in families in which partner violence occurred at least once in the past year. Seven million children live in families in which severe partner violence occurred.
- In homes where partner abuse occurs, children are 1,500 times more likely to be abused.
- Boys who witness domestic violence in their own home are three times more likely to become batterers.
- Domestic violence is the number one reason for homelessness among women.