The following is a success story from Family Violence Project (FVP), a partner program of United Way. Your donations support this program and many others across the county.

Sherry started attending the FVP Waterville Women’s Support Group when her child was removed from her care after the father of her infant son tried to kill both her and the child—she was unable to protect the child from his father’s violence. She was anxious, scared and feeling very alone and isolated when she started coming to meetings.

She would sometimes be angry, crying and overwhelmed in the space of a few minutes and was struggling to keep herself safe, both physically and emotionally. With the help and support of the group and the outreach advocate she was able to continue to create ongoing safety plans, which included installing (with the help of a gift card donated by a local women’s organization) security camera at her residence. She has slowly become aware of how deeply her child’s father eroded her ability to function independently, and she shared with the advocate how much she feels she has grown in the past two years with the help and support of the other group members.

Sherry has continued to have ongoing contact by phone with the advocate and attends virtual support group meetings as needed. FVP plans to continue offering virtual meeting options as well as an in-person option in the future. In-person contact is still ideal for many situations, but virtual partner meetings, court prep and navigating system can be effective.

The phone, email, text and Zoom technology has only increased the capacity to reach people. It has reduced many barriers like transportation and childcare. It has allowed outreach advocates more time to make connections and stay engaged with a variety of systems. Though FVP acknowledges that there are times when people will need to meet in-person, they have learned extended ways to reach people and for people to reach FVP.

In the outreach offices results of a quality assurance survey, 100% of those who complete the survey answered "yes—they know more about community resources, and they know more ways to plan their safety." This knowledge is paramount for victims/survivors to stay safe and well!