In 1989, October was declared National Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). Each year during this month, we raise awareness, educate, and advocate for domestic violence victims and survivors.

This year, we want to shine a light on our Broadview Shelter and Transitional Housing program and introduce you to its new director, Hope S. (Broadview staff are identified with their first name and last initial only to help protect the confidentiality of the program, staff, and its participants.) 

Broadview is a safe haven at a secure location for parents and their kids who have survived domestic violence (DV) and homelessness. Using a trauma-informed care model piloted at Broadview,* staff provide case management, children’s programs, DV and addictions support groups, parenting classes, and housing search assistance. 

Hope, who moved to Seattle to accept her role at Broadview, started her career as a volunteer in an emergency DV shelter in Southern California in the ‘90s. “I just fell in love with the transformative work that can happen in these environments,” she says.  

“I remember meeting with a survivor and her two very young children who had just come into the shelter. She was exhausted and defeated and was feeling unsure if leaving was the right thing to do. But when we talked about the impact of the violence on her children, her eyes lit with a fire, and she told me ‘I’m not doing this for me, I am doing it for them! And I will make it better.’ I will never forget seeing that spark of determination.” 

Hope’s direct service work expanded into community outreach. Now, she’s excited to return to more direct work with survivors. 

“The community-based programming I did was powerful and impactful,” says Hope, “But I first fell in love with the work in a shelter environment – and that specifically caught my eye regarding Broadview.” 

Broadview was one of the first residential programs in Seattle-King County for women and children moving out of DV situations. Since Broadview’s start in 1983, it has served women and children experiencing homelessness through emergency shelter and transitional housing in a secure, confidential facility. Broadview’s specialized children’s services and partners in the community help young people restore a sense of safety, normalcy, and structure so they too can heal and thrive. 

Hope wants to help Broadview “build strong community partnerships, provide best practice programming to survivors of violence, and foremost, provide a safe and healing environment to survivors that we get the opportunity to serve.” 

While Hope is excited to explore the Pacific Northwest’s live music scene, restaurants, and parks, what she’s most looking forward to is “the gift of witnessing the strength and resilience of survivors as they overcome obstacles to rebuild their lives.”

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• Photo at top: Broadview Shelter and Transitional Housing’s new director, Hope, with her son Jack.

• *Broadview’s trauma-informed care pilot helps children overcome the impact of homelessness, Groundviews Blog, 1/16/14