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Victims of domestic
violence who also have substance abuse issues can find themselves
in a bind: many shelters require a 6-12 month period of sobriety,
which can be a major obstacle in a family’s search for safety.
At Palladia, we believe a woman should not be made to put herself
or her children at risk just because she is chemically dependent.
These women, the majority of who are young women of color from low-income,
underserved neighborhoods, need more than just a safe haven; they
need social support and treatment for their addictions. Palladia was
one of the first agencies to give support to homeless victims of domestic
violence who have co-occurring chemical dependency issues.
With more than 20 years of domestic violence experience, Palladia
now runs two of the only domestic violence shelter programs with programming
to address co-occurring domestic violence and substance abuse issues.
Aegis, a crisis shelter, and Athena
House, a transitional housing program, serve 20 families each
at confidential locations in Manhattan and the Bronx. These shelters
provide transitional, supportive housing and comprehensive social
services (including enriched childcare programs) to assist women in
becoming self-sufficient community members, obtaining permanent affordable
housing, and healing from their abuse.
We put our experience in the field of domestic violence into practice
every day in the Clinical
Consultation Program. Under contract with the NYC Administration
for Children’s Services, Palladia experts in domestic violence
are placed in ACS field offices in the Bronx, where they train and
advise ACS caseworkers as part of an interdisciplinary team.
An exciting collaboration was initiated in April 2004, when staff
at Aegis began working with Creative
Alternatives of New York (CANY) to help clients’ access
their most challenging life issues within the safety of a theater
workshop setting. For women who have been the victims of domestic
violence, having a safe space in which to share their experiences
and connect with others who have suffered the same abuse is vital
to their self-restoration and healing. Overcoming the shame, rage
and isolation of such trauma can be daunting and often too difficult
and overwhelming to address directly. A less threatening and often
more effective means of reaching people who have been deeply wounded
is through the creative arts which allows for the symbolic expression
of feelings and experiences that might otherwise be buried or too
frightening to reveal. Creative Alternatives is a program that uses
drama as a therapeutic group process with the women at Aegis. Through
role playing and creating original dramas, the women are able to safely
explore their own life stories. They find themselves in each other’s
stories, and through dramatization, together face horrific truths
about their lives and well as search for and experiment with new possibilities.
The Creative Alternatives group at Aegis House, Drama Mamas, has given
these women the opportunity to find their own voices, and discover
within themselves the strength, the courage and the resources to move
on in their lives. |
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