The Junior League of Oakland-East Bay

Issue Area(s): domestic violence

Metric of Success:  Nearly 40 years after it was founded to aid victims of domestic violence, Stand! For Families Free of Domestic Violence has doubled the number of women it counsels and prepares for careers.

Overview

In 1973, the Junior League of Oakland-East Bay established the Family Stress Center, which provides counseling, educational programs, social services, and in-home support to at-risk Contra Costa County families. Twenty-nine years later, the center is thriving, having merged with Stand! Against Domestic Violence.

Community partners

• STAND! Against Domestic Violence

How it works

In 2010, with JLOEB’s support, the Family Stress Center merged with another major nonprofit in Contra Costa County, STAND! Against Domestic Violence, to become Stand! For Families Free of Domestic Violence. The merged organization has been able to increase its level of services for members of families experiencing violence even as the need for these services increased. For example, the number of women in its individual counseling program more than doubled, as did the number of women served by STAND!’s Vocational Services Program. Also enhanced were programs providing parenting skills workshops, social support, and early childhood classes; support services for relatives taking care of children who had been removed from their parents; and emergency shelter and transition housing programs.

What’s the impact?

The evolution of the Family Stress Center over four decades proves once again that a dynamic League program designed to address the underserved needs of at-risk populations can create lasting community impact.