The Making of a Heroine: My Experience at a Domestic Violence Center

All my life, volunteer work has been at the center of my core values and cherished memories. This past summer, this included an internship at The Center for Women and Families, a domestic violence and sexual assault crisis center in Connecticut. This opportunity was made possible through the assistance and generosity of the Harvard Clubs Summer Community Service Fellowship (SCSF) program and the Harvard Club of Southern Connecticut.

Before my internship could begin, I needed to complete a certification program at CCADV, the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Through these training sessions, I began to understand the workings of the system and soon realized that the domestic violence world was so much more complicated than simply one department, one counseling session, or kind and encouraging words to change a situation. Without everyone being on the same page and collaborating within the legal system, nothing would ever change, and women would be forced to remain in abusive situations even when they were finally ready to leave.

On my first day of work, I started by researching possible grant opportunities and grant-makers in the area. I expected that it would be fairly simple to find a grant that our organization could apply for and be reasonably sure of receiving. My false sense of security quickly vanished. All afternoon, I scanned through files and decided which requirements we met and which we did not. At the end of two hours, I found four matching grants. Four! That was when I realized how very much I was going to learn during my internship.

Mondays and Wednesdays were the days when I worked mostly in administration. I trawled through the files, boxed and stored years’ worth of records, and scanned and uploaded documents into an online tracking program. While it was simple to pick up the routine, the responsibility resting on my shoulders was heavy. There was no room to make a mistake. I shadowed meetings to negotiate new contacts, toured sites, and learned the intricate web that is the bread and butter of the nonprofit world. Some of the jobs are thankless, tedious, and time consuming, but they need to get done. I came to see that the people blinking through sleepy eyes and multiple cups of coffee behind desks are just as heroic as the emotionally strong-willed, frontline service professionals.

One day, a Hispanic woman came into the center, frantically searching for her daughter. I was the only staff member on hand who spoke Spanish fluently. The only thing this woman knew was that her daughter was with the Department of Child Services. After speaking with her as calmly as possible, I informed her of what all the advocates thought was the best approach and that she was in the wrong location, but we could give her the address and phone number for DCF. This was not the answer she was looking for, and she became angrier, screaming that her daughter was in the building and threatening to break through to our back offices  to find her.

It was at this moment that one of the DCF workers came running into the waiting room, explaining that he had her daughter in the sexual assault investigation room and they were waiting for the mother’s arrival. The woman eventually became an avid visitor to the center, while suffering from the scarring effects of domestic violence on herself and her children and fighting a custody battle. She appeared in the Spanish support group that I helped to lead. Her road to recovery is just beginning, and I still wonder where she will go.

During the summer, I worked as an advocate, shadowed counseling sessions, handled clients directly at the front desk, helped lead the Spanish support group, helped lead the Kidshare program, visited court, attended board meetings, visited the Safe House shelter (a confidential place where domestic violence victims are placed while being relocated), and so much more. The experience I have had at The Center for Women and Families this summer has been invaluable and has changed my relationships and the way I look at myself as a person. My thanks again to the Harvard Clubs Summer Community Service Fellowship (SCSF) program and the Harvard Club of Southern Connecticut for making this possible.

About Harvard Clubs Summer Community Service Fellowship (SCSF) program

The Harvard Clubs Summer Community Service Fellowship (SCSF) program enables Harvard undergraduates to perform public service in one of several communities across the country. SCSF is coordinated through the joint efforts of CPIC and the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA). Learn more...