Newhouse

The Shelter employs 15 or more trained Advocates and two Court Advocates to answer each call to our 24-hour citywide domestic violence hotline. In a trauma-informed manner, the Advocates respond to a diverse range of domestic violence-related questions, share referrals and local resources to meet inquiries, promote safety planning, and provide crisis intervention. Our growing legal team is led by our Attorney, barred in Missouri and Kansas, and now includes two Court Advocates who also respond to concerns regarding Orders of Protection and navigating the legal system. In 2022, our Advocates responded to 16,140 hotline calls, 450 survivors received transformative services, and we provided 20,531 safe days and nights to survivors.

The Children's Center for Education and Healing provides age-appropriate, trauma-informed therapeutics and activities to help children recover from trauma, build resiliency, and enhance their learning skills. The team supports children from age newborn to 18. Two full-time children's therapists employ evidence and research-based practices during individual and group therapy session, along with parenting sessions that are unique to each individual's trauma recovery needs. The director, a certified teacher, also provides students in grades K-12 with individualized lessons plans to embrace the child's strengths to grow academically. In our Early Learning Center for children ages six weeks to five years, we employ four children's advocates to provide childcare centered around social and emotional learning. All services are free to the families accessing our services. In 2022, 121 children received 12,296 hours of educational support and childcare.

Newhouse celebrated 51 years of lifesaving work as an emergency shelter for those fleeing domestic abuse. We provide safe shelter, healing therapy for all ages, legal support, full-time childcare, nourishing meals, clothing and all other basic living necessities, case management, job readiness training and employment, education advancement, transportation, and transitional housing support. Our direct services program provides a wide array of wrap-around services to provide life skills and tools to empower survivors on their journey towards whole-person healing and self-sufficiency. For adult survivors, we provide trauma-recovery services while supporting their progress goal to live a violent-free and self-sustainable life. In 2022, Newhouse accomplished the following: (1) grant revenues increased by 56%, (2) grew legal department by adding a second Court Advocate, (3) diversified our Board of Directors, (4) developed and approved a new strategic plan, (5) purchased a bus to transport children and families, (6) earned the highest rating possible by Charity Navigator upon evaluation of effective donation stewardship, (7) our most successful gala in Newhouse's history raised $978,000, (8) in augural Worthy Pop-up Bar event raised nearly $30k, (9) gained 832 new donors, including 37 new monthly donors, (10) created a $3.2M capital expansion plan and raised funds to add 40 beds, (11) achieved record revenues despite having the smallest budget of Jackson County domestic violence shelters, (12) organized 518 volunteers who gave 5,969 hours of their time, (13) served 31,610 meals, (14) sheltered or boarded 15 pets.