Our Mission & Values
Starting Point provides free and confidential services to victims of domestic and sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking. Our goal is to address and ultimately end the cycle of violence in our community while supporting victims and survivors with dignity and compassion.
We’re dedicated to:
- Ensuring quality services to victims and survivors, their children, and our community.
- Preventing future interpersonal violence;
- Promoting social change; and
- Encouraging accountability and education for perpetrators.
History
Starting Point was formed in 1981 by a small group of women who had experienced interpersonal violence and struggled to secure safety. They wanted nothing more than to make sure others did not struggle alone.
Our Team Values
We exemplify community. We network with partners to engage in a continuum of care for families who have experienced victimization. We celebrate our community and endeavor to engage with all our denizens, lifting voices and imagining a state where we are all free from the oppression of domestic and sexual violence.
We work for change. We work in solidarity with other movements striving to end oppression and violence. We believe in the best of humankind and campaign for a world where all people, all systems, and all conditions embody social justice and equality. We express healthy communications within our agency and strive to represent kindness externally. We wish to be the change we imagine.
We are innovative. Where others see a wall, we see a gate that needs oiling. We are creative problem solvers working at every level to empower survivors to swing open the gates so that all can graze upon the plenty that our community has to offer.
We are a team. Our ethics are dependent on inclusion. Our work is rooted in the experience of survivors. We work collectively with the intention of raising all voices. Together, we make a difference.