In Texas, 80% of mothers with children experiencing homelessness previously also experienced domestic violence. Victims who emerge from an abusive relationship face a variety of barriers to recovery, including the financial devastation left by their abuser. Victims who remain in abusive relationships are held back in life stripped of freedoms, confidence, and abilities needed to live a productive, healthy life. Abusers often put property in their name such as homes and vehicles leaving victims with nowhere to stay and no way to go. Those at risk of stalking and violent partners need specialized facilities for safety and trauma informed counseling. Families to Freedom serves the least privileged victims of abuse.
Our Solution: We provide placement to emergency shelters even beyond a victimâs area, offer a free ride to arrive, offer free transportation to get to housing or to family far away, then encouragement by phone to continue moving forward with goals to remain safe and reclaim life after abuse.
Access to transportation is often the first barrier victims face when escaping domestic violence. Low-income and financially devastated victims often lack a vehicle and means to arrive at emergency shelter, especially when the nearest safehouse is a county or more away. No car is no problem with Families to Freedom!
Our mission is to transport victims of domestic abuse to safety. We assist with locating shelter for placement then offer a free ride to get there, and we help victims and survivors relocate to friends and family far away from their abuser.
Families to Freedom helps hundreds of victims across Texas every year make their escape and arrive to safety. Most remain survivors, and many move further away from their abuser swearing to never return to the fear and chaos of the abusive relationship. Some leave with virtually nothing, and others leave with everything they can so thereâs no reason to go back. Some leave with their children and some leave before they have children.
Our need is to afford the fuel to drive, buy the bus and flight tickets for those going to family far away, pay for fuel for those driving their vehicle far away, and get the routine maintenance to our vehicles to keep them going.
This free ride service is available thanks to amazing and generous donors who support our transformative work to create healthy communities by ending abuse.
We have two offices which enables us to help victims from 87 Texas counties. During this North Texas Giving Day event, making a contribution to support victim travel beyond North Texas can be made here, or on our website which has a location designation: FamiliestoFreedom.org/donate, or you can mail a check to our post office box 1226 in Addison TX 75001.
Your Donation Directly Supports Victim Services
Our personnel costs, office rent, and some other administrative costs are supported by government backed grants. This online fundraising event is our Gala. This means your donation goes directly to where itâs intended- giving victims the way out that they need to arrive to safety away from abuse.
Odometer
In 2023 we embarked on 903 trips to crisis centers and helped 228 new survivors reunite with friends and family far away.
1,685 victims and children arrived to safety!
2,570 hotline callers received some benefit including emotional support, safety planning and referrals to other agencies for help.
North Texas
544 Arrivals to emergency shelters & 142 arrivals to a home
607 Rides by car or van, 44 ticketed travel & 35 fuel assistance
958 Souls on Board (victims & children)
75% were a person of color
East TX & Gulf Coast
359 Arrivals to emergency shelters & 86 arrivals to a home
387 rides by car or van, 32 ticketed travel & 26 fuel assistance
727 Souls on Board
81% were a person of color
Nearly half of our travel population are the children of these victims
Learn More
For more information about our agency, the services we provide, or how you can get involved as a volunteer, visit FamiliestoFreedom.org, call us at 833-903-7233, or email FamiliestoFreedom@gmail.com