Its duties are the same, but the organization synonymous with helping victims of domestic abuse has gotten a new name.
The Snohomish County Center for Battered Women is now called Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County. The name change occurred July 1.
The goal was to have a name that better reflects what the organization has been doing for some time: helping people who are experiencing verbal as well as physical abuse, and serving men as well as women, said Vicci Hilty, development director.
The word “battered” in the organization’s previous name didn’t include emotional abuse that often is part of domestic violence, she said. The name change also reflects another reality: Men are victims of abuse, too, she said.
Before the name change, the organization was often asked if it provided services to men. “We help all victims and all types of abuse,” Hilty said.
As one example, the group assisted a man whose wife was addicted to methamphetamine. The organization helped him and his children safely leave the household and then provided them with vouchers to provide temporary shelter, she said.
Mark Mahnkey of Lynnwood, a member of the Washington Civil Rights Council, said he welcomed the name change.
“We need to watch how they deliver services,” he said, adding that men are a small percentage of the clients the organization serves. “We, of course, would welcome any real change that they make.”
The domestic violence group responds about 4,500 times a year to people either calling its emergency hotline or asking for information on its services, which include a 15-bed emergency shelter, a 24-hour hotline, 20 units of transitional housing, help with legal issues, support groups and community education.
With its 15-bed shelter, the organization was able to help provide safety for 204 women and children last year, Hilte said.
However, that meant it had to turn away 1,900 women and children due to lack of space, she said.
The organization thinks a new shelter will cost between $6.5 million and $10 million, she said. A formal fund drive is expected to be announced in about a year, she said.
The group’s name has changed several times since its founding in 1976, when it was launched as the Women’s Survival Center of Snohomish County.
Two years later, the organization hired its first executive director and changed its name to Stop Abuse.
In the early 1990s, as the organization expanded it shelter and emergency services, it changed its name again, to the Snohomish County Center for Battered Women.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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