Program areas at WC&S
Wc&s' confidentially located, secure emergency Shelter housed 153 adults and 141 children for a total of 16,860 nights in fy 24-25, serving 50,580 meals to residents. Core services for Shelter residents include counseling, safety planning, goal planning, support groups, and education about housing, finances, career, health, behavioral health, and other needs. Wc&s also provides food, toiletries, clothing, and other essentials so that families can begin their healing journeys without worrying about meeting their immediate needs.
Wc&s' civil law project provides free legal representation to victims of intimate partner violence in matters including protection from abuse orders, custody and child support, and divorce. In fy 24-25, the civil law project provided legal assistance for clients in 723 legal matters.
Wc&s' legal advocacy department (lad) helps survivors of intimate partner violence navigate the court system by providing information, resources, counseling, and ongoing support free of charge. Lad staff members may guide survivors through obtaining protection from abuse orders and accompaniment to court hearings. These professionals work with the justice system to improve procedures and to train police on ipv issues. In fy 24-25, the lad provided legal advocacy to 3,382 adult clients.
Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh achieves its mission by offering a comprehensive range of free and confidential services to meet the various needs of adult and child intimate partner violence victims and survivors at every point along their journeys. In fy 24-25, wc&s provided lifesaving services such as safety planning, counseling, education, and emergency response to 7,106 people impacted by intimate partner violence, including over 34,000 hours of counseling. of that, 6,808 survivors of dv and their children received services from wc&s. The agency provided prevention and battering intervention programming to 301 men who use abuse, 4,043 professionals were provided consultation or coaching, and 114 concerned family or friends of survivors received support.the bright sky domestic violence mobile app and website, which wc&s and its partners launched in the united states on march 9, 2023, had over 43,041 users this fiscal year, for a total of over 177,498 users since its launch in 2023. A free, safe, and easy-to-use app and website, bright sky connects those impacted by domestic violence to practical information to educate, detect warning signs, and deliver life-saving information and features to respond to domestic violence while offering a secure route for support. Bright sky is presented in the u.s. by Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh and vodafone americas foundation, in collaboration with aspirant, no more, hope after harm, and domesticshelters.org.through Women's Center & Shelter's participation in the diagnostic vibrant index 6.0, vibrant Pittsburgh has once again designated wc&s as a 2025 vibrant champion for utilizing best practices addressing equal dignity and respect for all people through our policies and workplace practices. The vibrant index is designed to provide an annual snapshot of the best practices being utilized by employers in the Pittsburgh region. In the last fiscal year, Women's Center & Shelter provided the following services, education, and outreach:hotline services: wc&s' hotline staff supported 3,641 crisis callers in fy 24-25 and interacted via text/chat with 298 individuals. They assess the survivors' safety (and contact emergency responders when needed), provide emotional support, offer counseling and other resources, and walk the callers through creating or updating safety plans. Information and referrals provided by the staff enable callers to make choices about next steps. Whether their choice is to seek emotional support, Shelter, safety planning, or any other wc&s services, hotline staff help to facilitate these next steps. Emergency Shelter: wc&s' emergency Shelter housed 153 adults and 141 children for a total of 16,860 nights in fy 24-25, serving 50,580 meals to residents. The emergency Shelter provides safety for adults and children in immediate, lethal danger. Core services for Shelter residents include safety planning, goal planning, and education about housing, career, health, and mental/behavioral health. Wc&s provides food, toiletries, towels, blankets, clothing, and other essentials so that families can have their immediate needs met and can begin their journeys of healing. Survivors staying in the emergency Shelter can have their pets housed in our pet suite. This allows families to care for and spend time with their animals who can offer great comfort and often have also been abused as part of the cycle of violence. Children's advocacy program (cap): in fy 24-25, 117 children received 9,581 hours of direct service through cap, which offers a safe, welcoming, and nurturing space where child victims of ipv can heal from trauma. Beyond addressing basic needs like medical care and school access, our cap team collaborates with local organizations to bring fun, expressive activities to the children we serve. Importantly, cap also creates opportunities for mothers and their children to connect with each other while they work through some of the most difficult challenges they have faced. Wc&s also has a children, youth, and families program to serve individuals whose cases involve both ipv and child abuse.wellness program: in fy 24-25, 272 clients received 2,871 hours of direct service through support groups and individual therapy. Support groups are offered, both in-person at wc&s and virtually, for both residential and non-residential ipv survivors. Groups cover topics like building life skills, seeking safety, recognizing reproductive coercion, fostering wellness, mothering, developing healthy relationships, substance use, and recovery, and surviving trauma. Individual therapy is provided to help cope with the effects of ipv, which can include depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety. Economic impact: wc&s' standing firm (sf) program is part of the economic impact department. This program delivers training to employers in southwestern Pennsylvania and beyond to recognize and respond to intimate partner violence (ipv) in the workplace and refer those affected by ipv to appropriate local resources. Increasingly, standing firm is building relationships with and developing training for large companies with multiple locations across the u.s. by expanding wc&s' reach through the employer community and beyond southwestern Pennsylvania, sf is enhancing prevention activities and reaching a Greater number of citizens in need of referral for assistance and safety. This department also houses our immediate needs coordination program, which in fy 24-25, supported 550 clients with immediate needs, such as security systems, housing, utility costs, moving costs, and victim compensation funds.legal advocacy department (lad): in fy 24-25, wc&s provided legal support to 3,382 adult clients. Wc&s' lad helps ipv survivors navigate the court system by providing information, resources, counseling, and ongoing support free of charge. Lad staff members guide survivors through obtaining protection from abuse (pfa) orders and accompaniment to court hearings. They also work with the justice system to improve procedures and to train police on ipv issues.medical advocacy: the medical advocacy program (map) maintains relationships between wc&s and local healthcare providers (primarily upmc and ahn), distributing wc&s print materials, delivering training and consultation to healthcare professionals who work with patients who may be experiencing intimate partner violence, and meeting with patients admitted to hospitals for ipv-related injuries. In fy 24-25, wc&s' map delivered 19 trainings to medical professionals at local hospitals and to medical students in classroom settings, provided 75 consultations to healthcare professionals to better serve patients experiencing ipv, met with 91 patients at local hospitals who were assessed as high-danger victims to provide education, information, and emotional support, and regularly refreshed outreach materials at local hospitals. Education & outreach: wc&s delivers training and presentations on ipv awareness and prevention to criminal justice professionals, students, clergy, corporations, and other professionals. In fy 24-25, wc&s staff delivered 209 ipv trainings to 4,043 professionals. In addition, dangerous choices prevention education was conducted at three allegheny county juvenile community intensive supervised program locations, with 30 presentations for 220 people. Additionally, 38 community events were held. Also housed in our education & outreach department is the mens (men embracing nonviolence and safety) program, which is an intervention group for men who abuse their intimate partners. These men are either court-ordered to the program or are self-referred, and our work focuses on challenging them to change their behaviors and stop using abusive behavior with their partners and children. The mens program utilizes a sliding fee scale based on income and is one of only four fully certified batterer intervention programs in allegheny county. The mens program served 301 participants in allegheny county in fy 24-25. Wc&s also served women who were referred by the courts for using abuse but who were assessed as not being the primary aggressor.additional programs housed in the education & outreach department include services and partnerships geared at providing specialized support for those in need, as well as community-based support groups for survivors who face geographical barriers to seeking services.working within systems is also a priority for wc&s as we strive towards making changes in the justice system, law enforcement, healthcare, child welfare, and education systems. In fy 24-25, wc&s provided 435 hours of system change work, primarily focused on assisting and supporting the allegheny county intimate partner violence reform initiative, the county's new ipv fatality review protocol, the Pittsburgh police, training for judges and others in the justice system,