Welcome, new subscribers! Check out The Doorways Model to learn more about our programs. Explore The Doorways Model 🎉 Happy New Year! 🎉 Thank you for giving safe harbor, healing, and hope in 2023 Thank you for all that you made possible in 2023, and all that you'll make possible in 2024. Stay tuned for our upcoming annual report to see how your support made a difference! Your gifts of safe harbor, healing, and hope are critical for the survivors and families at Doorways, especially as homelessness and domestic violence increase, and abuse becomes more severe. ➤ See the In the News section below for the latest updates on these disturbing trends. You enable Doorways to provide a full spectrum of programming, from prevention education, to community-based services, to emergency shelter and supportive housing. In particular, our shelter and housing-based support services, which include goal planning, financial counseling, and Children's Services, would not be possible without your support. ➤ Read Sam's story to see how Doorways supports adult clients like her in shelter and housing. See The Virginia McCaffrey Fund section below to learn about our Children's Services. We are so grateful you're part of our community, and honored to have your support. We wish you and your loved ones a happy and healthy New Year filled with hope and healing. The Virginia McCaffrey Fund Supporting children and youth at Doorways Every year, 1 in 30 chil­dren and 1 in 10 young adults (ages 18 to 25) experience home­less­ness. One in 10 children are exposed to intimate partner violence. Ninety percent of these children are direct eyewitnesses of the abuse, like Liam. The Virginia McCaffrey Fund was established to help children and youth at Doorways who have been impacted by domestic violence and homelessness. The fund supports Doorways' Children's Services, which include art and play therapy, to help kids heal, grow, and thrive. Learn More A special message from fund founders Robert Wagner, MD, Marla Bolotsky Rosen, and Mary-Anne Liles The Virginia McCaffrey Fund for Children at Doorways was founded to honor the work and life of Dr. Virginia "Vee" McCaffrey, an Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C. anesthesiologist who dedicated her life and career to protecting the most vulnerable in whatever community she was in. A champion of the underserved, especially children and young girls, she was giving of her time, money, and spirit. Dr. Virginia McCaffrey Your gift to the Virginia McCaffrey Fund for Children helps support Doorways' Children's Services, including art and play-based therapies (such as the sandplay, or sand tray, therapy pictured below), access to medical care and immunizations, and additional support. An amateur painter, Dr. McCaffrey would be so proud to support these programs. We hope you will help spread her spirit to these children and young adults. In the News: Trends U.S. homelessness reaches its highest reported level since the country began using the yearly point-in-time survey in 2007 "The United States experienced a dramatic 12% increase in homelessness to its highest reported level as soaring rents and a decline in coronavirus pandemic assistance combined to put housing out of reach for more Americans." Read More How $750 a month changed the lives of a group of homeless people "The money has reduced the number of unsheltered, the time unsheltered and made it so people have less food insecurity." Read More Domestic violence involving firearms increased during COVID-19 pandemic "The increase in firearm domestic violence is concerning, as abuser firearm access is a risk factor for lethality." "Interventions that prohibit firearm access, such as domestic violence restraining orders and extreme risk protective orders, as well as prohibitions associated with misdemeanor domestic violence convictions, may prove valuable to address the potential increase in the risk of firearm domestic violence." Read More Everytown urges Supreme Court to protect domestic violence survivors "After a string of domestic violence-related shootings over the holidays, a gun safety group underscored the need for the Supreme Court to uphold a federal law in a case concerning domestic abusers' ability to possess firearms." Read More "Gun violence and domestic violence are inextricably linked." How Doorways is responding to these trends in our local community In the last five years, the number of survivors Doorways has sheltered in our emergency safehousing has more than doubled. These survivors are experiencing homelessness due to the imminent danger of domestic and sexual violence; intimate partner violence is a leading cause of homelessness among women and children. In addition to more survivors needing our emergency shelter, survivors are also experiencing increasingly complex and dangerous situations, as measured by lethality assessments. Total Survivors Sheltered in Doorways' Safehousing In 2023, more than half of the survivors sheltered in Doorways' Safehousing were children (71 out of 135 total survivors). ➤ See our current strategic plan to learn how, with your support, we're addressing these challenges across our community. Learn More   Share This Email Share This Email Share This Email Doorways | P.O. Box 100185, Arlington, VA 22210 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!