Charity helps break cycle of violence
Centro de la Familia, a Colorado Springs nonprofit that serves Hispanic/Latina victims of domestic abuse, has received a $20,000 grant to expand a key component of its program: educating children who have been abused or witnessed abuse to break the generational cycle of violence.
The 13-year-old agency was one of 65 domestic violence prevention organizations out of 400 applicants in the U.S. to receive money from the Avon Foundation. .
Centro de la Familia worked with 150 children last year, teaching them about such issues as building self-esteem and anger management. Thanks to the grant, it can hire another child-play therapist, said Mary Ann Carter, a licensed clinical social worker.
"Educating children is so critical - it's the answer," she said.
Carter and Sandra Hernandez, also a licensed clinical social worker, co-founded Centro de la Familia in 1996 because of the community's growing need for bilingual crisis intervention services.
The agency operates on a $500,000 annual budget, supplied by about 40 grants, and works with various community entities, such as the police department and TESSA, to provide counseling, advocacy and self-sufficiency programs for women who have experienced domestic violence.
The organization also offers a weekly group program for women and a parallel children's program, Paz para los Niños (Peace for the Children) at the same time.
"Children learn what they live, and if they're in a home where there's violence it's important to teach them appropriate behavior for handling stress, so they can grow up and see domestic violence as a problem and not a solution to problems in their lives," said Fe Villegas, a Centro de La Familia board member and a victim advocate for the Colorado Springs Police Department.
About one-third of the 1,400 to 1,800 clients the organization sees each year are illegal immigrants from Mexico and South and Central America and are often fearful of seeking help because they are afraid of deportation, Carter said.
The staff is bilingual, and the organization is sensitive to the nuances of Hispanic and Latino culture, she said.
"The sex roles are more defined; the man is primarily the bread winner, and women can't work as easily as they can here. Moving here often creates an imbalance in the family power system, which creates tension and can lead to domestic violence," Carter said.
The nation's economic downturn also has resulted in more severe cases of abuse, she said.
Karla Horton, a board member who nine years ago turned to Centro de la Familia for assistance, encourages abused women to reach out for help, for their sake and their children's.
"Don't be scared to talk to people if you need help," she said. "We often are worried about what everybody is going to say or fearful if we're illegal, but don't be. There is help for family violence."
