Doing Our Part

By: Rev. Camille May, HPUMC Associate Minister, Director of Pastoral Care

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and brings with it an opportunity to highlight the epidemic of abuse and remind victims that they are not alone. One of the ways HPUMC participates in this effort during this month is with the UMW Restore Her Luncheon: Women Helping Women, benefiting Restoration Ministry.

As a ministry of Pastoral Care at Highland Park United Methodist Church, Restoration Ministry seeks to create a safe environment for those facing intimate partner abuse. Abuse in the home is present across demographics and is not limited to physical violence alone. By percentage, more women seek help extricating themselves from abusive partners; however, men are not exempt from the devastations of abusive relationships.

Whenever someone in an abusive situation turns to us, we assure them of God’s intrinsic love for them, listen with confidentiality as they share their stories, provide prayer, and work to help them restore safety, security, and peace in their lives. Raising awareness of the dynamics of abuse and offering a network of care are primary ways Restoration Ministry works to bring healing to a hurting world.

Our role as a community of faith is to provide spiritual support and build bridges to expert resources available through local organizations. In partnership with Genesis Women’s Shelter, HPUMC is able to connect women with counseling for themselves and their children, as well as emergency shelter, legal aid, and long-term housing.

The Next Steps

By: Ruth Guerreiro, LCSW-S, Chief Clinical Officer of Genesis Women’s Shelter

Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support is a nonprofit agency for women who have experienced intimate partner violence—and their children. Genesis has a residential campus (emergency shelter and transitional living) and two non-residential locations in Dallas. At all locations, Genesis offers trauma-informed wraparound services for counseling, advocacy, occupational therapy, legal representation, safety planning, and crisis management.

Childcare is provided for when a mom meets with her Genesis treatment team, and an on-site school is available for the children living at the emergency shelter. This allows Genesis to overcome common barriers and safety concerns. All services are confidential, free of charge, and provided in English and Spanish.

Genesis utilizes an empowerment model, helping women heal by increasing their sense of personal power in their lives. Group and individual counseling sessions with women focus on processing the trauma of intimate partner violence, while children ages two to eighteen receive counseling to heal from witnessing the abuse of their mother.

Genesis Counselors all have master’s degrees and are trained in providing best-practice therapeutic interventions such as play therapy, art therapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, cognitive processing therapy (CPT), and movement therapy. Genesis Advocates support clients in reaching their goals, such as employment, housing, and financial independence; this often includes connecting women to other community resources to meet their needs.

The Genesis Occupational Therapy department is the newest addition to our services. Genesis Occupational Therapists have doctorate degrees and meet with women and children to improve daily functioning, address developmental delays and special needs such as autism, and enhance a client’s emotional well-being. Genesis Attorneys provide brief and long-term legal representation in family court for divorce, child custody matters, and protective orders.

Finally, Genesis has a 24-hour helpline that offers immediate safety planning, crisis management, scheduling, and shelter eligibility screenings. Our emergency shelter is for women and children seeking immediate safety due to imminent danger from their abusive partner. Women who are not seeking immediate shelter and who live within an hour’s drive of our non-residential locations are eligible for weekly appointments at our office on Lucas Drive in Dallas or at our office on Lancaster Road in South Oak Cliff.

To access any of our services, women can call or text our 24-hour helpline at 214-946-4357. They are then scheduled for an intake appointment to meet with a counselor or an advocate. Immediately after the appointment, women become eligible to begin attending our Phase 1 Counseling Groups for further guidance. At Genesis, we do not require that a woman leave her abusive partner. In some cases, doing so could put her in more danger. Instead, we work with each woman as she makes her own decisions.

Restoration Ministry works with partners like Genesis Women’s Shelter to guide women to wholeness and healing. Looking for resources or just want to learn more? Visit our webpage for more information about receiving support, helping a friend, or supporting Restoration Ministry and those in abusive circumstances.