Chez Hope marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “one in three women and one in four men have been victims of physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime.”
Chez Hope, the area’s family violence crisis center located in Franklin, commemorated the lives of women and men affected by domestic violence Tuesday by hosting a candlelight vigil at Lighthouse Park in Berwick.
The center’s first vigil was held Oct. 1 in Franklin at the family violence crisis center. The organization has the only domestic violence emergency shelter in St. Mary Parish.
The center provides a 24-hour crisis line, 24-hour emergency shelter, alternative shelter, crisis intervention, legal advocacy, assistance with obtaining restraining orders, support groups, options counseling and children’s programs.
“Chez Hope is quite unique in the fact that we are the only domestic violence program in Louisiana to have non-communal living,” Chez Hope Executive Director Cherrise Picard said.
There are four individual apartments. Domestic violence victims can reside there for up to six weeks.
Once victims are out of immediate danger they might be eligible for alternative shelter up to three months.
This year the organization has served 988 people, which includes women, men and children. Staff members have assisted with 144 temporary restraining orders and answered 786 crisis calls.
Since September, Chez Hope has presented at 42 schools reaching 2,864 students in the parish. Program presentations are Hands are Not for Hitting, Bully for Kids and Teen Dating Violence.
Chez Hope not only believes in helping those that have been abused, but also the abusers.
The organization offers a batterer’s intervention program. It is a 26-week interactive program giving batterers options on how to not be abusive to their partners.
Every nine seconds in the U.S., a woman is assaulted or beaten.
Chez Hope received a grant to open an emergency visitation exchange center, Picard said.
“When there’s a domestic dispute between couples, divorce or separation, and they cannot safely exchange their children, parents can come and exchange their children at the center in a safe manner,” Picard said.
The visitation exchange program is scheduled to begin in March 2016. It will service the 16th Judicial District Court and will be located in Franklin.
The program is free of charge for all participating families.
St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, Franklin Police Department, Chitimacha Police Department and other Tri-City area law enforcement officials are actively involved in securing the safety of those coming to the shelter.
Elizabeth Richmond, Mennonite missionary, was the initial founding mother of Chez Hope in 1983. She served until her death in the early 1990’s.
Before Picard became the executive director, Sami Riley served from 2003 until her untimely death of lung cancer in February of this year.