The Heights Ellis County Family Resources was started in 2018 when a group of community leaders came together to address the reality of domestic violence in Ellis County. The original vision was to provide a true safe house that was dedicated to providing a safe place for women and children who were in the midst of life threatening situations. In the early stages of researching national demographics, The Heights discovered only 15% of victims actually need a place to stay. Most women stay with family or friends to find safety, but recovering from abuse takes more than safety. As a result, The Heights began to broaden its vision to not only provide a safe house, but to also include wholistic services to its clients. This decision helped The Heights better serve those they provide shelter to, and also reach the other 85% of its targeted demographic who do not stay in their safe house. After 2 years of planning, services began to be offered to clients in 2020.
More About Who We Are:
Multi-Agency Center:
Currently, victims of family abuse in Ellis County need to go to 15-20 different places to get their needs met. Our heart is to unite other nonprofits together to serve the victims of family abuse all together in one place. We are not here to replace or compete with other nonprofits. We provide a place for women and children to tell their story one time and receive all the help they need.
National Affiliation:
The Heights is a member of Alliance For Hope International, and we embody the family justice center model. We are one of about 150 centers who are a part of the affiliation in the United States. The family justice center model has been designated as a best-practice model for family abuse intervention and prevention by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Public Safety & Well Being Initiative:
We provide public safety and not just social work. The main reason we exist it to save lives and restore women and children to a healthy self worth and a fully sustained life through offering our clients the highest amount of human respect and dignity with compassion and empathy.
Caring And Qualified Staff Who Provide:
Intimate Partner Homicide Risk Assessment
Non-Fatal Strangulation Assessment
Healthcare
Food
Childcare
Pet care
Clothing Assistance
Law Enforcement
Legal Assistance
Counseling
Parenting Skills
Relationship Education
Spiritual Direction
Victim Advocacy
Case Management
Education
Job Training
Transitional Housing
Our Needs
We offer year around children's programming. Part of our programming includes providing summer camp to children effected by trauma. Our summer camp program is called Camp Hope America.Â
Camp Hope America is the leading year-round camping and mentoring program in the country for children and teens impacted by domestic violence. We are focused on creating hope and healing-centered pathways through collaborative, trauma-informed care for youth exposed to trauma to believe in themselves, in others, and in their dreams.
The Camp Hope America Program is a strengths and character-based summer camp and mentoring model with a six-day, overnight program and follow-up activities during the school year. The program focuses on three key elements: 1) âChallenge by Choiceâ activities, 2) affirmation and praise for developing observed character traits, and 3) themed, small group discussion and activities focused on helping children set goals and then pursue those goals.
Exposure to domestic violence affects many individuals in the United States annually. As many as ten million children and adolescents in the United States will bear witness to acts of domestic violence each year.
While the research on children exposed to domestic violence is emerging, studies show these children are at an increased risk for anxiety and depression, loss of interest in school and friends, social isolation, increased physical and psychological aggression, bullying or being bullied, and a propensity to perpetuate the cycle of domestic violence.
The vision for Camp Hope America is to break the generational cycle of family violence by offering healing and hope to children who have witnessed family violence. Your donation makes a difference for children and their families-it can change lives! You have the chance to impact a childâs life by providing them with experiences they may never get to have. Participate today by sponsoring a child for a week at summer camp!
We are sending 65 kids to camp. It costs $750 per kid which includes the costs of around 50 adults to help lead the camp. Â The total cost for our camp is $48,000. We are also happy to announce that we have donors who will match all donations up to $24,000. Any size of sponsorship makes a difference!