Charitable Peachy: Violence Intervention Program (VIP)
Peachy Deegan learned of this wonderful organization at this event when she met Cecilia M. Gaston, MPA, Executive Director of Violence Intervention Program, Inc.:
Ms. Gastón has a strong track record of service to the Latino community and other disenfranchised groups. Ms. Gastón has served as a consultant and board member for the Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, a board member for the New York Women's Foundation, and a member of Women in Health Management. She was a National Urban Fellow and recipient of the Capstone Award in Public Administration.
Ms. Gastón received a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Mary’s Dominican College in New Orleans and holds a Masters of Public Administration degree from Baruch College.
She began her official duties as Executive Director for the Violence Intervention Program on June 2, 2008. She is delightful!
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VIP’s mission is to promote nonviolent partner relationships, familias, and communities through raising awareness, activism, and culturally competent services that are respectful of each survivor's right to self-determination. To achieve its goals, VIP engages in service delivery, community education and activism to work to change attitudes and secure the necessary resources to promote domestic violence prevention and services.
VIP was founded in 1984 as a grassroots East Harlem initiative to address the growing prevalence of domestic violence within the Latino community. Strategically positioned with a culturally relevant perspective and bilingual capacity, VIP fills an enormous gap in services that are geared to the special needs of battered Latinas and their children. While the underlying mission is to serve battered Latinas, the programs encompass concepts that resonate with a multitude of battered victims—empowerment, self determination and cultural competency. Thus, their services attract women of diverse backgrounds. Twenty-five percent of their caseload is comprised of non-Latina, low-income women, primarily women of color and immigrants. Their free, confidential services are open to any battered individual throughout all five boroughs of New York City. Of all the organizations that provide domestic violence intervention services throughout New York City (and New York State), VIP is the only one that focuses exclusively on domestic violence in the Latino community, with a direct services staff that is totally bilingual/bicultural (Spanish/English).
Having begun with a $60,000 demonstration grant from what was then the New York State Department of Social Services more than 20 years ago, VIP has transformed thousands of battered women’s lives. Today, in 2007, with an operating budget of nearly $4 million, they continue to make inroads in providing empowerment and stability for survivors of domestic violence. They receive approximately 12,000 calls annually from battered women through VIP’s local bilingual (Spanish/English) domestic violence hotline and the New York State Spanish Domestic Violence Hotline. Annually, they provide direct services to approximately 1000 victims/survivors of domestic abuse.
VIP’s programs enunciate overriding goals:
- to assist battered Latinas and their children to escape violence in their homes and to begin the process for an independent, violence-free future;
- to create greater awareness in Latino communities about the adverse effects that domestic violence has on Latino families, Latino communities, and society at large;
- to provide information about specific actions that members of the community can take to eliminate domestic violence;
- to influence systemic change within targeted institutions and agencies that will result in better services to Latino victims/survivors of domestic violence and their children.
VIP articulates these goals through the following programs/services:
- VIP’s NYC Domestic Violence Hotline (24 hour/7 days; bilingual, Spanish/English): offers crisis intervention, information/referrals; the entry point to all our services;
- NY State Spanish Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Hotline (24 hour/7 days) directs battered Latinas in counties statewide to appropriate services within their community;
- Their Residential Services consist of scatter-site apartments in confidential locations for transitional shelter during the crisis stage, accompanied by various direct therapeutic and logistical services overseen by case management;
- The Non-Residential Services (3 sites: Manhattan/Bronx/Queens) provide women who are experiencing domestic violence with empowerment support along with mechanisms to access their rights, in conjunction with crisis intervention counseling;
- VIP’s Independent Living Aftercare service is an ancillary component for clients who are past the initial crisis stage and require an increased level of resources to scale the hurdles of educational/vocational advancement, overcome language deficiencies, pursue a job search, and locate safe, suitable housing;
- The Children and Youth Services focuses on the emotional, developmental, and educational needs of children who have been caught in the crossfire of family violence;
- Our Community Education and Outreach initiative is our “collective voice” that creates greater awareness in Latino communities about the adverse effects that domestic violence has on Latino families, Latino communities, and society at large;
- VIP’s Supportive Housing Program for Social Change (SHPSC, aka Casa Sandra) is our component that enables survivors of domestic violence who are highly motivated a more permanent dwelling—along with continued support—as they pursue advanced educational/vocational programs and engage in the workforce as they aspire to independence;
Contributions to the Community
Although they provide crisis intervention and stabilization services to New York City inhabitants, their influence has radiated globally as well. VIP, working with other domestic violence prevention agencies, played an instrumental role in raising the consciousness of the general public about this critical social issue—that crosses all class lines and ethnicities—and which ultimately resulted in the passing of the federal Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA) in 1994.
VIP’s Executive Director, Board of Directors and staff are proactive in the domestic violence field, with participation and/or board membership in local, state, and national organizations that work to combat domestic violence. They routinely engage in hands-on activities. Staff and volunteers conduct workshops throughout New York City communities that help Latinas facilitate domestic violence services. In order to extend their services as far into the community as possible, every VIP staff member, whether or not the individual is a key participant in the delivery of direct services, is required to undergo training to deliver presentations to the general public about the intricacies of domestic violence, methods to combat it, and venues for assistance.
The Violence Intervention Program, Inc. (VIP)
PO Box 1161/ Triborough Station, New York, NY 10035
Administrative Office: 212.410.9080 Fax: 212.410.9117
Hotline: 800.664.5880
www.VIPmujeres.org
