About
Clackamas women's services (CWS) breaks the isolation of domestic and sexual violence. Prompted by community concern for women and children escaping violence, CWS opened clackamas county's first emergency shelter in 1985. Today, we are the largest organization in oregon providing comprehensive services and support for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, child and elder abuse, stalking, dating violence, and trafficking. In partnership with the community, we annually impact the lives of more than 10,000 individuals from clackamas county and surrounding communities. CWS is a resource for anyone experiencing or impacted by interpersonal violence. Our comprehensive approach supports survivors in building resilience to achieve their goals for personal safety, physical and mental wellness, financial autonomy, and family stability. From initial crisis to long-term healing, we are responsive to every stage of victimization at ANY AGE. Our trauma-informed programs promote safety and self-determination for survivors of ALL cultural and racial backgrounds, gender identities, experience with disabilities, sexual orientations, and socio-economic circumstances. CWS works toward cultural inclusiveness through language access, visual representations, and cultural adaptations of services, cultural foods, holidays, traditions, and cultural practices. CWS programs focus on both responsiveness and mitigation to ensure we are meeting the needs of those who experience abuse and violence while also reducing risks that CAN lead to HARM. We provide WRAP-around support driven by a whole-person and whole-family approach. Acknowledging disparities in access to services for people marginalized by racism and oppression, CWS is committed to equity across our organization. To ensure access to resources at the same level or higher than dominant/white culture populations, CWS prioritizes bipoc and immigrant/refugee survivors across ALL of our programs. CWS programs include: individualized support | advocacy and case management, including: (-) emotional support (-) safety planning (-) legal advocacy and help filing for protective orders (-) help accessing community resources and navigating public systems (-) support with economic wellness and sustainability goals community based services | meeting survivors where they are: (-) a safe place family justice center (-) mobile advocacy (-) CO-located services (-) hospital-based response (-) outreach and training (-) civil legal services 24-hour crisis and support line | emotional support and safety planning for survivors. Consultation and support are also available for family, friends, and other service providers. Shelter and housing | connecting survivors with a supportive community and the space to rebuild their lives VIA emergency shelter, short and longer-term housing solutions, with ongoing case management and support. Counseling and support groups | individual counseling and a range of support groups, including youth and family counseling, art-based therapy, parenting support, and trauma recovery groups. Youth services | confidential individual, family, and group support for children and youth who have experienced family, sexual, or dating violence, and/or trafficking, including the CAMP hope oregon and pathways to hope programs. Community education and prevention | education about how to prevent domestic, dating, and sexual violence, including school-based violence prevention and healthy relationship curriculum provided in schools for k-12 students. Latinx services | culturally specific services for latinx communities, along with investment in leadership development opportunities for latinx survivors and staff. Our trauma-informed and intersectional approach provides survivors with culturally relevant support while also advancing racial equity. By creating a community with survivors who come from many different backgrounds and also have a specific shared experience, we CAN break the isolation of interpersonal violence from a place of respect and dignity. Program details CAN be found at https://WWW.cwsor.ORG/connect-to-services/ committed to collaboration CWS is known as a change-maker in oregon's response to domestic and sexual violence and we are extensively involved in community coordination efforts at city, county, regional, and state levels. It is part of our DNA to work closely with our partner organizations to amplify our collective impact in the region. CWS is the lead nonprofit partner at a safe place family justice center, where, in one location, survivors CAN access emergency shelter, develop a safety plan, speak with law enforcement and DHS, connect with legal assistance, get counseling, and identify solutions to meet their housing and resource needs. CWS provides approximately 75% of ALL intakes, crisis intervention, and ongoing supportive services for survivors seeking help at a safe place. To prioritize access for survivors from vulnerable or historically marginalized populations, we actively partner with culturally or population specific organizations such as immigrant and refugee community organization (IRCO), a village for one, safety compass, CASA esperanza, and native american youth & family center (NAYA). Our longstanding associations with these and other organizations engender trust that CWS supports their communities with cultural awareness and trauma-informed practices. We work with community members, partner agencies, coordinated response teams, coalitions, and systems to build a holistic community that supports and uplifts survivors of domestic and sexual violence. This includes clackamas county health, housing & human services, parrott creek child & family services, and the oregon attorney general's sexual assault task force, among others. Prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion CWS recognizes that society's challenges and benefits are not distributed equitably, and we seek to address these historic and current disparities so that each of us CAN realize and enjoy a healthy, safe, and inspiring world. We commit to the ongoing work it takes to be a social change organization and to fight for racial, gender, economic, disability, lgbtq+, and other forms of social justice. In order to more fully accomplish our mission and live our values, we strive to make our commitment to diversity and inclusion evident in our organizational structure, policies, board of directors, staff, donors, goals, and vision. CWS believes that equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging are critical to healing, justice, and achieving survivor-centered outcomes. Our commitment to working in partnerships compels us to build relationships where ALL partners are valued, heard, respected, and empowered. Our drive for excellence leads us to learn from a broad range of perspectives and talents. We welcome people of ALL identities and seek to foster a culture of respect, openness, learning, integrity, honesty - and a sense of hope. CWS operates from the belief that oppression is the ROOT cause of domestic and sexual violence, and that ANTI-oppression and ANTI-racism work is fundamental to its eradication. We also acknowledge that an authentic commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion requires a significant culture shift and ongoing investment in learning and improvement. CWS began this work formally in 2008, and we remain deeply committed to our DEI journey. Our board of directors and staff regularly participate in training and knowledge building as part of our sustained DEI journey. Refining and operationalizing systems and processes to be equitable, inclusive, and responsive to the many cultural/racial/gender identities in our community are our priorities. The backgrounds, knowledge, traditions, and intersectional identities of survivors are at the forefront of CWS' processes for equitably developing, delivering, and evaluating programming and operations. We actively seek input and center survivor voices in our planning. CWS collaborates in hosting a survivor-LED advocacy group (voices) composed of participants who volunteer their time to educate and empower others. Our promotoras program engages and trains latina survivors to serve as paraprofessionals in their own communities. These and other survivor-centered and/or community-specific collaborations help CWS develop or adapt programming based on stated needs, preferences, or goals, and guide our strategic direction.
In care of Melissa Erlbaum MPA
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