Operation Funding for New Horizon Family Center https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/proposals-2012/operation-funding https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/@@site-logo/sitelogo-75x75.png

Operation Funding for New Horizon Family Center

Additional Information
Used for	New Horizon Family Center is requesting operation support in the amount of $10,000 to provide services to victims of domestic and sexual violence. Funding will support both program and operation budgets to ensure the clients receive direct services such as case management, but also defray overhead costs, such as utilities to ensure the agency has the means to provide services.
Benefits	Studies indicate that intimate partner violence costs US businesses an estimated $3 to $5 billion annually in lost time and productivity, while the cost of domestic violence to the US economy is more than $8.3 billion. This cost includes medical care, mental health services, and lost productivity (e.g., time away from work). Therefore, the foundation will receive the benefits of NHFC’s work tangentially through violence reduction for the community which will result in higher workplace productivity for employees and reduced medical cost for the community.
Proposal Description	Mission: The New Horizon Family Center is a non-profit community organization committed to ending interpersonal and sexual violence through education, counseling, emergency shelter, advocacy and prevention services to create a better future for all. Beneficiaries of Services: New Horizon Family Center serves victims/survivors of domestic and sexual violence. While this violence can affect any individual regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, class, or gender, the majority of the agency’s clients fall into the moderate-to-low income demographic and often lack resources to weather their crisis without assistance. Last year, 74% of the clients served were identified as very low income which indicates an individual or family whose income is equal to, or below, 50% of the area median family income level, based upon the Department of Human and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines. Last year, the Agency sheltered 735 residential clients and served 301 non-residential clients, providing 9,241 nights of emergency shelter and 248 hours of counseling services. The agency also assisted 3,125 women, children, and men by supplying information and/or referrals via the 24-hour hotline. In the past four years, the agency has directly served a total of 3,268 individuals. Through its 24-hour hotline, the agency has served over 21,000 individuals. Agency Services: New Horizon Family Center provides crisis intervention services to women, children, and men who are victims of domestic and sexual violence. The goal of services is to reduce the obstacles faced by victims of domestic violence and sexual assault through direct intervention and counseling services. These services will also increase the safety of the victims and their families by incorporating culturally sensitive services. The agency provides: • crisis intervention via the 24-hour hotline or face-to-face; • access to emergency shelter, including emergency transportation; • accompaniment services, which means the agency initiates victim contact immediately after the crime at a hospital, law enforcement agency, or other safe, public location; • safety planning; • legal advocacy, which will assist victims through the legal/justice system, including assistance in filing for an emergency and final protective orders, referral to legal service agencies, and completing applications for Crime Victims’ Compensation funds; information, and when appropriate, referral to another agency more accessible to the victim; • individual counseling and/or support groups provided by a Master-level therapist which is oriented toward bringing understanding and support to victims. All services may be accessed through the agency’s 24-hour hotline, which is operated using a local and toll-free telephone number 24-hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year, or in-person. The agency also provides community education with the goal of raising awareness of these issues and prevent individuals from becoming victims of domestic and sexual violence. Community Education is offered to any civic or professional group or agency which requests such information. Service Area: The agency targets services to the areas of East Harris County (Northshore, Galena Park, Jacinto City, Sheldon, Channelview, Highlands, Baytown, Mont Belvieu), Liberty, and Chambers counties. However, services are not restricted to individuals residing in these areas, but rather serve as marketing boundaries. Historically, 77% of the agency’s clients reside in Harris County, with the balance residing in the remaining counties. However, the agency has served victims from as far away as Georgia in the last year. Supporting Data: According to the Uniform Crime Records released by the Texas Department of Public Safety for 2010, there were 34,913 cases of domestic violence reported in Harris County of which a combined total of 830 cases of domestic violence reported in cities directly served by this project, which include Baytown, Galena Park, and Jacinto City. Harris County Sheriff's Department and Houston Police Department reported a total of 10,268 and 21,634 domestic violence cases respectively. An additional 80 cases were reported in Chambers County, and 542 cases reported in Liberty County. For sexual assaults, the 2010 Uniform Crime Record reported 2,129 rapes in Harris County, of which 106 were documented in cities served by this project. In Chambers County, 30 sexual assaults were reported. In Liberty County, 48 rapes were reported. However, it is well documented that reporting of domestic violence and sexual assault is underreported for various reasons including, fear of reporting a family member, fear of loss of economic resources if the perpetrator is the primary support, fear of retaliation by the perpetrator, distrust of law enforcement, fear of death, etc.; therefore, the actual numbers are likely to be much higher. New Horizon Family Center is the agency designated by the Health and Human Services Commission-Family Violence Programs to serve East Harris, Liberty, and Chambers counties. If the agency ceased to exist, many clients could be forced to seek services as far away as Beaumont, Texas, which is located 90 miles east of Houston. This agency provides much needed advocacy and outreach services in these areas. Greatest Achievement: The agency’s greatest achievements over the last three years was increasing the number of clients served, improving program services as evidenced by client outcome surveys, reducing operation costs by decreasing existing costs or eliminating unnecessary expenses, and attracting a more educated and professional staff. Sustainability: Unfortunately, due to the prevalence of domestic and sexual violence, the agency does not believe the need for services will be placed in jeopardy due to a decrease in the level of violence, even with prevention services, as data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that the impact of prevention services will not be evidenced for three decades, while the need for those services will remain level or increase. Therefore, with continued grant funding and community donations, the agency believes the need for services will remain at current levels. In 2011, the agency focused on diversifying its funding sources and developing a wider donor pool. The agency has been in operation for 30 years, primarily sustaining operations utilizing government grants, community donations from a small pool of donors, and revenue from its Resale Shop. The economic downturn in 2008 forced the agency to minimize expenses, while maximizing resources; this approach has served the agency well until 2010 when donors facing a deepening recession began to contribute less to the agency. The agency experienced a 72% decrease in cash donations and revenue from the Resale Shop. To minimize the impact of this loss, the agency closed its Resale Shop in February 2011 and implemented a marketing plan to attract a new, wider pool of donors. In 2012, NHFC increased donations by 44% over the previous fiscal year, and received its first foundation grant in seven years. We continue to diversify funding, and presently have requests for $175,000 pending. Budget: The FY13 budget is $807,837. The agency has secured approximately 54% of the budget for this fiscal year. The foundation's contribution would be used for personnel cost to support direct services, as well as to defray operation cost, such as utilities to ensure the appropriate environment for direct services. Outcomes: 1. As a result of receiving funding, 75%, or 750 of 1000 clients who receive face-to- face services, will report an increase in safety due to services offered by the agency. The goal of direct services is to reduce the trauma and obstacles faced by victims of domestic and sexual violence. Therefore, this outcome will measure the effectiveness of services offered by the agency. This outcome is also presently measured through exit surveys given to residential and non-residential clients, and it is the reason that we have prioritized it as our primary goal. 2. As a result of receiving funding, 85%, or 850 of 1000 clients who receive face-to-face services, will report a positive experience when receiving agency services. This goal is presently used by the agency to measure its residential and non-residential services to determine if the agency is providing quality and consistent services. This outcome is measured via exit surveys offered to clients exiting services and is collected anonymously by staff and tallied by program directors. Providing quality services is a high priority of the agency, and the reason the reason agency has chosen to prioritize this outcome as a goal for this grant.