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Agency offers adopt-a-family program
File photo
By Heather M. Smith, hsmith@acnpapers.com
A local agency, which helps those affected by relationship violence, is hosting a county-wide program to help its clients during the holiday season.
Denton County Friends of the Family (DCFOF) is organizing an adopt-a-family program. Those interested in adopting a family may contact Hillarye Hightower, community resource coordinator for DCFOF, at 940-387-5131, ext. 231, or by email at hillarye@dcfof.org. You will then receive information about the adopted family, such as age, gender, sizes and gift requests. The deadline for dropping off gifts/food for clients to pick up is Dec. 15.
“This program helps our clients who have to choose between buying presents and paying bills. We have families who also need help with holiday meal supplies,” Hightower said. “Our clients, who are part of this program, give us a wish list, which we then pass on to the people who adopt them. Those who adopt-a-family also can adopt the mother in the family, if they wish to do so.”
“We ask for unwrapped items to allow the parents the joy of wrapping presents for their children,” Hightower said.
During the 2009 holiday season, the DCFOF adopt-a-family program helped 133 families.
“We’ve done this program for at least 10 years,” Hightower said. “Clients who are part of the adopt-a-family program have to currently be receiving services from us, but not all of our clients need the help from this program.”
DCFOF is the sole provider in Denton County of shelter and free outreach services to those who have been affected by relationship violence and/or sexual assault. DCFOF receives funding from federal, state and local government agencies, the United Ways of Denton County and Lewisville, corporations, foundations, groups and individuals. DCFOF was founded in 1980 and began with a staff of two, 32 volunteers, a 900-square-foot shelter and $10,000 in funding.
“We are the sole provider for free services for victims and survivors of sexual assault,” Hightower said. “We are also the only shelter in Denton County for this service. We have a community education department and do presentations regarding prevention of sexual assault around the county. Last year we did more than 600 community presentations.”
Over the past 30 years, the agency has expanded to include a staff of 50, hundreds of active volunteers, a 4,400-square-foot shelter and more than $1.5 million in funding. In 2009, the agency served more than 13,000 clients, answered more than 2,000 crisis line calls, sheltered more than 650 people, and provided almost 15,000 hours of counseling. The agency also answered more than 120 calls for sexual assault.
The DCFOF mission is to “provide compassionate supportive services to those impacted by relationship violence and sexual assault, while partnering with our community to promote a society free of violence.
“In addition to our programs and services for battered victims, we also have a program for men and women who batter,” Hightower said. “Most people think only women are battered, but we also help men who have been battered.”
DCFOF provided more than 5,000 hours of counseling to men and women who have battered their partner. The agency’s program for those who have battered their partner is the Violence Intervention and Prevention Program (VIPP).
“We don’t do any couple’s counseling here. VIPP is only for the person who battered,” Hightower said. “Most of our clients in VIPP are court appointed, only 2 percent are volunteers.”
The 27-week group therapy program includes two hours a week of counseling. It is the only service paid for at DCFOF.
“The money we receive from the VIPP clients goes back into the crime victim’s compensation fund,” Hightower said.
Hightower said the agency could always use more donations and volunteers. She said right now there is a need for children’s books, women’s and children’s coats, full size toiletries, diapers, baby powder and baby wipes. On Saturdays, DCFOF also offers a pick-up service for bigger items such as furniture and electronics. For pick-ups, call the DCFOF main line at 940-387-5131. The agency makes pick-ups all over Denton County.
DCFOF serves more than 7,000 individuals a year through programs including a 24-hour crisis line, 32-bed protective residential shelter, adult counseling program, child and adolescent program, structured community education, violence intervention and prevention, outreach advocacy, legal advocacy and accompaniment, thrift store, hospital accompaniment and involvement in the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program.
For information visit www.dcfof.org
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