CREDO funding supports the National Network to End Domestic Violence in its effort to create a world where domestic violence no longer exists

Domestic violence is a quiet crisis. Though it seldom receives coverage, it is shockingly common.

Almost 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the U.S. 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have suffered physical violence by an intimate partner. For 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men, that violence was extreme—beating, strangling, burning. It goes on. And on.

But the National Network to End Domestic Violence is taking action to stop it. That’s why CREDO supports NNEDV and why we recently gave a significant grant to the group.

A wide range of programs to support victims

NNEDV is a social change organization. It knows that, working together across different sectors and from all different angles, we can create a society where domestic violence no longer exists. But NNEDV doesn’t only address the causes of domestic violence, it operates a range of programs to ease the consequences.

NNEDV’s efforts are multifaceted and far-reaching. They include:

• Advocating for policies that meet the ongoing and emerging needs of domestic violence victims, including advocacy on Capitol Hill and in the White House.
• Responding to technology abuse, supporting survivors in their use of tech and harnessing tech to improve services provided to victims.
• Supporting transitional housing programs across the country and advocating for improved housing-related policies.
• Addressing the intersection of domestic violence and HIV/AIDS.
• Maintaining an Economic Justice program that focuses on financial abuse (99% of domestic violence victims also suffer financial abuse) so that survivors can move from short-term safety to long-term security.
• Providing credit-building microloans to survivors of financial abuse through NNEDV’s one-of-a-kind Independence Project.
• Publishing the annual Domestic Violence Counts Report, which informs local and national policy decisions by providing a snapshot of the services people received, requested and were turned away from because programs lacked resources.
• Operating the WomensLaw Email Hotline and WomensLaw.org, which provide free, plain-language legal information and support in both English and Spanish for survivors, their advocates and loved ones.

Expanded efforts, powered by CREDO funding

Our recent grant to NNEDV has strengthened its many programs, including technology safety, coalition capacity-building, housing, HIV/AIDS, the WomensLaw Email Hotline, the Independence Project and advocacy to meet the ongoing and emerging needs of domestic violence victims.

Our funding aided NNEDV’s success in leveraging the power of its member coalitions and the local programs they represent. It bolstered NNEDV’s leadership of efforts to influence Congress, and provide tools and information to help coordinate the domestic violence field. And it boosted NNEDV’s vital Economic Justice program by funding advocate training and education, as well as NNEDV’s microloan program.

Our grant supported the launch, on March 20 at a bipartisan Congressional briefing on Capitol Hill, of the 18th Annual Domestic Violence Counts Report. It helped NNEDV host its 7th Annual Economic Justice Summit, March 5-7, in Kansas City, Missouri. And it assisted NNEDV’s work with the Oregon coalition and other domestic violence, sexual violence and homelessness organizations to organize the Grants Pass v. Johnson amicus brief led by the National Housing Law Project. NNEDV collected signatures on the domestic violence and sexual assault-focused brief and worked with other organizations to devise an amicus strategy.

NNEDV and CREDO: making a difference together

For too long, victims of domestic violence suffered in silence. Now, thanks to the work of organizations like NNEDV, survivors know they can leave abusive relationships and rebuild their lives. And we all know that, together, we can create a social, political and economic environment in which domestic violence no longer exists.

If you’re a CREDO customer, thank you for supporting NNEDV. If you’re not a customer, please consider joining now. You’ll get all you want from a phone company: the nation’s top-rated network, competitive plans and great deals on new devices.

And you’ll get much more. You’ll get an easy, effective way to make a difference in the world by generating much-needed donations for progressive nonprofits dedicated to the causes you believe in, like the environment, human rights and economic equality.

To learn more about the critical work NNEDV does, go to NNEDV.org.