All our services are free and confidential. How you can help Hotline Shelter Court Advocacy Support Groups Counseling Referrals How Adults Can Help End Domestic Violence Cultivate a respectful attitude toward women in your family and at your workplace. Avoid behaviors that demean or control women. When you are angry with your partner or children, respond without hurting or humiliating them. Model a non-violent, respectful response to resolving conflicts in your family. Call a domestic violence or child abuse prevention program for their help if you continue to hurt members of your family. If you have a friend or co-worker who is afraid of her partner or who is being hurt, offer her your support and refer to our 24-hour toll-free hotline 1-800-470-1117 or 729-5730, or to the 24-hour, toll-free, National Domestic Violence Hotline number at 1-800-799- SAFE (7233). Learn about domestic violence services in your community. Contribute your time (volunteer!), resources, or money. Call the police if you see or hear violence in progress. Talk to your friends and neighbors when they belittle women, make a joke about violence, or ignore a battered woman. Ask your local government to collaborate with domestic violence programs to conduct a safety audit of your community. Write to music producers, movie companies, Internet businesses, video game producers, and TV stations to speak out about violence against women. Develop a women’s safety campaign in your workplace, neighborhood, school, or house of worship. Build a consensus among your colleagues and neighbors that abusive behavior and language is unacceptable. Bring together your local domestic violence program staff, parents, teachers, students, and school administrators to start a discussion about developing a schoolbased curriculum on dating and family violence. Ask that physicians and other health care professionals receive training about domestic violence and follow the diagnostic and treatment guidelines about domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse developed by the American Medical Association. Co-sponsor a citizens’ monitoring group with your local domestic violence program to insure that law enforcement officers, judges, and probation & parole personnel receive training about domestic violence and enforce the law. EXAMINE YOUR OWN LIFE for violence and oppressive behaviors. Try to live a VIOLENCE-FREE life. Return to top of page   How High School Students Can Help End Domestic Violence Cultivate a respectful attitude toward girls in your school and female members in your family. Avoid behaviors that demean or control women. When you are angry with your friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, sister, brother, or parent, respond with out hurting or humiliating them. Try to use a non-violent, respectful response to resolving conflicts in your family. Call a domestic violence or child abuse prevention program for their help if you continue to hurt friends or members of your family. If you have a friend or know of a family member who is afraid of her partner or who is being hurt, offer her your support and refer to our 24-hour toll-free hotline 1-800-470-1117 or 729-5730, or to the 24-hour, toll-free, National Domestic Violence Hotline number at 1-800-799- SAFE (7233). Ask and learn about domestic violence. Give a presentation in school. Develop a web banner. Call the police if you see or hear violence in progress. Talk to your friends, neighbors, and family members when they belittle women, make a joke about violence, or ignore a battered woman. Contact your student government about conducting a safety audit of your school and instituting a violence-free program for your school. Write to music producers, movie companies, Internet businesses, video game producers, and TV stations to speak out about violence against women. Build a general agreement among your classmates and friends that abusive behavior and language is not OK and will not be tolerated. Bring together friends and classmates to work with domestic violence program staff, parents, teachers, and school administrators to start a discussion about developing a school-based curriculum on dating and family violence. Learn about city codes, state and federal laws that deal with violence against girls and women. EXAMINE YOUR OWN LIFE for violence and oppressive behaviors. Try to live a VIOLENCE-FREE life. Return to top of page   How Middle School Students Can Help End Domestic Violence Respect girls and women in your school and in your family. Don’t make fun of or try to control girls. When you are angry with your friend, sister, brother, or parent, don ‘t try to hurt or humiliate them. Try to act in a non-violent, respectful why when solving conflicts in your friendships and family. Ask and learn about domestic violence. Give a presentation in school. Develop a web banner. Call the police if you see or hear violence in progress. Talk to your friends and classmate when they belittle girls, make jokes about violence, or ignore violence against girls and women. Ask your teachers or principal to work with domestic violence programs to help make your school and surrounding community safe for girls and boys. Write to music producers, movie companies, Internet businesses, video game producers, and TV stations to let them know that picturing violence against girls and women is not OK. Make a contract with your classmates that abusive behavior and language is not OK and will not be tolerated in your school. Form a group of friends and classmates who will work with domestic violence program staff, parents, teachers and school administrators to start a discussion about developing a school program or unit on dating and family violence. EXAMINE YOUR OWN LIFE for violence and oppressive behaviors. Try to live a VIOLENCE-FREE life.   *Adapted from the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and the National Domestic Violence Awareness Project. © June, 2000. MaryAdele Revoy, Project Coordinator. 1-800-537-2238. Return to top of page   Volunteer Help us save lives. Women Are Safe always welcomes the valuable contribution of volunteers. Volunteers are an integral part of WAS, helping us meet our goal of preventing domestic, and assisting victims of this crime. Our staff and clients are grateful for the time and effort volunteers dedicate to making our communities and families safer. WHO CAN VOLUNTEER? Women, men, teens from every ethnic background, race, lifestyle, and religion can volunteer. There are no minimum work or educational requirements to volunteer. WAS staff conduct a background check and an interview with each volunteer candidate. ARE THERE TRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR VOLUNTEERS? WAS staff members want to ensure that volunteers are well prepared to do their jobs. All volunteers must participate in a 2-hour orientation training. Volunteers who perform direct service (i.e. have contact with clients) are also required to participate in a 16-hour Core Competency training to enable them to acquire a strong knowledge of DV dynamics and WAS policies and procedures. If possible, we ask that each volunteer commit to an initial six-month period. WHAT KINDS OF VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE AT WAS? The program’s needs change over time, but in general we have volunteer opportunities in the following areas: Court Advocates - working directly with victims of domestic violence in the courts, helping to ensure that victims are aware of their legal rights and options; Helpline Crisis Counselors - providing crisis counseling and referral services by telephone (this volunteer position can be conducted from your own home); Translators and Interpreters - acting as a liaison between non-English speaking clients and advocates, and translating written forms from English to other languages; Education and Training - assisting staff with presentation of our interactive skits that explain the dynamics and warning signs of domestic violence; Shop Assistance - assisting with Shop 'til It Stops Thrifty Boutique customer service and general shop duties; Special Events - helping with fundraisers, and commemorative events to raise community awareness about domestic violence; On-Call Drivers - helping with the transportation needs of victims when needed; Child Care Providers - assisting with child care for clients; Pet Sitters - caring for women’s pets while they are in shelter; Special Maintenance Projects - assisting with repair and maintenance projects. Whatever your special skills are, we can use them! Please download and complete our Volunteer Inquiry Form and email to program@womenaresafe.org. Return to top of page   Donate Women Are Safe is pleased to invite you to provide a gift that helps victims of domestic violence. Please indicate if your gift is in honor of a birthday or anniversary, a memorial gift, or other special remembrance. Simply provide the following information, and mail it and your check to : Women Are Safe, P. O. Box 2, Centerville, TN 37033 I would like to make a gift of $_________ ____ In memory of (name) ________________________________________ ____ In honor of (name) __________________________________________ Please send acknowledgment(s) to : _____________________________________________________________   You may also donate online with a PayPal or credit card account by clicking on the 'Donate' button. And why not add a tax deductible donation to your holiday or birthday wishlist? Let family and friends know that what you really want is to help others. Return to top of page   Cell Phones & Ink Cartridges Women Are Safe collects cell phones for use by clients as 911 phones. We also collect used printer cartridges of all types for recycling. If you'd like to donate a phone or ink cartridge, please call our office (931-729-9885) to ask about drop-off locations. You may also email the Program Assistant. In Humphreys County, drop-off boxes are provided at First Bank and First Federal Bank. We use ThinkRecycle.com so you can be sure your donated cell phones and ink cartridges will not end up in a landfill. They also give back to the environment on behalf of Women Are Safe Inc through their tree planting partnership with American Forests and The Tree Canada Foundation. Your participation in our recycling program not only helps save the environment but it also helps raise funds to Stop Domestic Violence. You may drop off any donated items to our office on West End Ave in Centerville. Thank You for your participation! Return to top of page   Computers, Cameras, and Other We now collaborate with MyBoneYard.com which allows us to receive much needed funds by people who recycle their old computers. Here’s how it works.... 1. Go to www.MyBoneYard.com and click on the Donate now! button 2. From there you can locate Women Are Safe, by entering the pre-assigned Unique ID Code: 1207 (or by entering Other under ‘Select from Available National Organizations ‘Women Are Safe, Centerville, TN’) If you have problems, please contact the Program Assistant for help. From there you can donate a number of different types of electronics, including: Laptops Desktops Cell Phones Flat Panel Monitors Digital Music Players Camcorders Game Systems GPS Cameras After selecting the type of item you wish to recycle/donate, the website will ask you some specifics about the item then give you an estimate on the cash amount to be awarded to Women Are Safe through your recycling efforts. The website will need your email and shipping information. Once this information is provided you will be able to print the shipping label and voucher to be included into the package along with any packaging instructions via the email that will be sent to the address provided. The shipping is completely paid for by MyBoneYard.com. All you have to do is to print the shipping label and voucher, pack the item and drop it off at the nearest UPS pick-up location, which can be found through the UPS locater link included in the email as well. Return to top of page   More Easy Ways to Help Charitable Bequests : Through your will, you may designate a a gift of cash or specific assets to benefit Women Are Safe. Charitable Remainder Trust : Income from the trust is paid for a lifetime or specified term. Charitable Lead Trust : You may temporarily assign the income from designated assets to benefit Women Are Safe. You may be eligible to earn charitable tax deductions for the income WAS receives during the trust's term. Consult your attorney, accountant, or other professionals you trust for advice on these and other charitable giving options. Return to top of page   How Churches Can Help Form a committee to address domestic violence issues. Encourage the clergy to speak out against domestic violence from the pulpit. Invite staff from local domestic violence programs to make educational presentations. Designate a day or month for educating and activating the congregation. Offer pre-marriage counseling dealing with equality, conflict, violence, and control. Use available curricula for youth which encourage the values of gender equality and nonviolent conflict resolution. Offer meeting space in your church or synagogue to the local domestic violence program. Contribute financial support to local domestic violence programs. Return to top of page   How Your Group Can Help Dollar Sunday Did you know there are four months in 2005 that have a 5th Sunday? Would you be willing to donate $1 on each of these four Sundays to be used to help women and children who are seeking safety from domestic violence? If every church would hold a Dollar Sunday on these days, giving their collection to the local domestic violence program, the benefit to victims would be tremendous! Your contributions will help us to provide shelter, transportation, medicine, as well as food and household items including Christmas gifts for children and their families. By contributing just a dollar, you can show your support of local efforts to assist survivors make a new life for their children. If you want to know more, contact us at 931-729-9885. Return to top of page   Painless Giving One easy way to help Women Are Safe is simply to use goodsearch.com as your search engine. All you have to do is enter 'Women Are Safe' in the I Support field. Click 'Verify' to be sure you've got our program. After that, every time you conduct a search using goodsearch.com, sponsors will donate money to our program and it doesn't cost you a penny!   Shop online at hundreds of places like Gap, Office Max, Amazon.com, J C Penney, etc. through I GIVE by clicking here... and a percentage is donated to Women Are Safe, with no extra cost to the buyer. Also, if you download the shopping window, we get an automatic $3.00. Return to top of page   Our Wishlist There are many items Women Are Safe needs to provide services for battered women and their children. Since our needs are always changing, please call our office if you want to help. OUR CURRENT WISHLIST Size 4-5 Diapers Over-the-counter adult meds. (Tylenol, aspirin, cold meds) Umbrellas Light bulbs Adult volunteers for child sitting during Group on Monday in Centerville and Wednesday in Dickson and Humphreys Recycling bins Pine-Sol Fabric softener Cleaning supplies Dishwasher detergent Food storage baggies Garbage bags Paper towels Toilet paper Small padlocks (keys) AA, AAA, C, and D batteries Laundry detergent Bleach Dryer sheets New toys (newborn - youth) New thermometers Liquid hand soap Safety pins Febreeze Twin size sheets and blankets Coffee and creamer (not instant) Wash cloths and towels (kitchen and bath) Houseware (drinking glasses, pots & pans, etc) Please call our office number (931-729-9885) or send email to program@womenaresafe.org if you need more information. Return to top of page

The information on this website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

Women Are Safe, Inc., does not discriminate in regard to sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, or marital status. All of our services are free. The program receives funding from United Way, from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, and from the Gannett Foundation through The Tennessean. This program is partially funded under an agreement with the State of Tennessee, Department of Finance and Administration, Office of Criminal Justice Programs. Points of view or opinions contained within this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the Department of Justice.