Agency History and Overview Starting Point: Services for Victims of Domestic & Sexual Violence is a private non-profit agency providing services to victims of domestic violence in Carroll County, NH since 1981. Starting Point's Board of Directors, staff and volunteers are committed to working and living in a community where individuals do not tolerate the perpetration of domestic violence, sexual violence and/or stalking, and the belief systems which allow these abuses to thrive. Like many small non-profit organizations, Starting Point began as a grassroots response to a pressing community need. The agency, then known as Carroll County Task Force on Domestic Violence and later Carroll County Against Domestic Violence & Rape, originally consisted of a part time crisis line in the bedroom of a former domestic violence victim. The agency has gradually evolved into a county-wide organization with four full time staff members, two part time staff members and over 30 volunteers including an AmeriCorps member. We operate a 10 bed emergency shelter and a drop-in satellite office and provide resources to female and male victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking countywide. We could not do all we do without our trained and dedicated volunteer pool that provides the agency with over15,000 hours of service every year. All of Starting Point's services are free and confidential. Our current services include: - 24 hour support line
- Shelter for victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking
- Court and hospital advocacy
- Support groups
- Child Advocacy Center accompaniment
- Criminal justice accompaniment
- In school education / prevention programs
- Professional education programs
- Community education programs
In 2009, Starting Point provided 1821 emergency bed nights of shelter to domestic and sexual violence victims in our community. These bed nights represented 18 women, 2 men and 10 children. Our shelter was full 131 nights. Volunteers and staff responded to over 529 crisis calls and advocated in more that 210 court cases. Our services touched more than 609 individuals in our county of approximately 43,000 people. In addition hundreds of students and adults received information on the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault through our educational programs. Starting Point is funded through a variety of state and federal grants such as the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), the Violence Against Women Act, (VAWA) and the Family Violence Prevention Services Act (FVPSA), as well as through municipal contributions, private grants and agency fundraising. Starting Point is a member of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
|
Support Starting Point 
