As you may have read in Lisa Fleming’s letter, Rose Brooks Center’s hotline received record numbers last year, with nearly 1,000 calls each month from individuals seeking help and support. Not everyone who calls is seeking emergency shelter, but for nearly every single one of them, it is where their Rose Brooks Center journey begins.
A hotline is a place where anyone can turn for help, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. For survivors who may be feeling overwhelmed or confused, hearing the voice on the other end of a crisis hotline can be the life-changing moment they need. Read an excerpt from one survivor explaining to her now adult daughter about the day she decided to make that life-changing call for herself . . . and for her children.
“I did consider what was happening to me domestic violence, but I didn’t know about abuse . . . because I had seen so many worse things in my life, and I didn’t know him hitting me was worse. I didn’t want that for my kids. I wanted my kids to know that life was not meant to be like that. It’s supposed to be peaceful. You were supposed to feel safe at home. And I just didn’t know how to get away. So I went ahead and made the call. I called Rose Brooks. And I’d have to say it was one of the best days of our life as a family to help bring us up. But it was a decision that I made that helped. It brightened our future, to help me to learn how to deal with domestic violence, how not to go back to it, how to recognize the signs, and to be able to move forward with my life.”
To read more about our Hotline Program, including why it was the very first program established by Rose Brooks Center, please visit here, or by clicking on the hotline icon.