Perez received the honor for her tireless work on behalf of survivors of domestic violence. 

This year’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month brought collaboration between organizations to the forefront of the conversation. 

This award was given to AVLF due to the hard work and unwavering partnership of the Safe and Stable Families team.

I think we can agree that physical abuse is bad. But absent that, at what point should we be concerned?

My mom explained that Jennifer had a habit in the following years of calling her when she got scared.
When Jennifer called that day and I answered, it had been nearly 20 years since she and my mother had first met. Over these years, Jennifer kept my mom’s home phone number and knew that she could call it when she was frightened or needed an answer.

“My clients have all been wonderful, hardworking people who found themselves in untenable situations and had the courage to stand up and say ‘no more.’ These cases serve as powerful reminders of the resiliency of the human spirit.”

More than 100 friends of AVLF and Warner Bates gathered at the law firm’s penthouse offices on the evening of Thursday, August 24, to celebrate and raise funds for the Guardian ad Litem Program. 

One of the first things you learn in domestic violence training at AVLF is that violence can occur in any relationship, regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation. We saw that firsthand. She was married to her abuser for decades and had several children with him. Both were highly educated, well-employed, and, to the outside world, had presented as a nearly perfect family. Until he tried to kill her.

The statistics surrounding the overlap between housing problems and domestic violence are staggering: 39% of cities in the U.S. cited domestic violence as the primary cause of family homelessness.

Children who accompany their parents to the SFO can entertain themselves with a new kids’ kitchen, which includes kid-sized pots and pans and play food.

I add the original victim’s and batterer’s child or children. The batterer literally pounds cruel lessons home. The children learn them young, filing them in the backs of minds, to surface later. An impulse to beat or to let a batterer attack can lie in wait, until a threat, tantrum or argument triggers it.

Thanks to a grant from the AEC Trust and with support from TechBridge, starting July 24, the SFO will become completely digital. The advances in technology will better address our needs, the needs of our clients, and the needs of the court.