ARLINGTON, Va (WUSA) - Every 12 days a child dies from abuse. Every 4 days an adult is murdered by his or her partner. Every 3 hours a family enters a domestic violence shelter. Bethany House of Northern Virginia offers safety women and children fleeing from domestic violence.
We'll call her Jane. After repeated beatings she came to Bethany House and started rebuilding her life. She says when she arrived, "I felt safe. I realized that there are people out there, and that there was nothing wrong with me. They helped me get all the services I was going to need to get my life back."
Executive Director, Catherine Hassinger says, "We very much want to work with our families to break the cycle of violence now. We don't want to be a respite and allow them to go back. We want to encourage them to break that cycle now for themselves and for their children."
Bethany House of Northern Virginia recognizes that domestic violence is a crime, that is has devastating effects on children, that victims should be supported, and treated with courtesy, compassion and respect.
Hassinger and her staff strive to do everything they can to let their clients know that the abuse that happened was not their fault. "They're amazing beautiful wonderful human beings. . . . we don't want this for the families, we don't want that for their children."
The program's vision is to heal, restore and empower families. During the holidays, and throughout the year; food, clothing and personal care items are distributed. Items that are especially needed include cleaning supplies, toilet paper, diapers and family sized hygiene products.