PCADV’s Partnership With Allstate Helps Domestic Violence Victims Find Safety & Build New Lives

Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s (PCADV) mission is to eliminate personal and institutional violence against women through programs providing support and safety to battered women, direct services, public information and education, systems advocacy and social change activities.

Violence against women and girls is a global human rights issue, impacting one out of every three women and devastating families and communities. In the U.S., every hour, nearly 145 women are assaulted by a partner, and each day an average of three women die as a result.

In 2011, in effort to offer more comprehensive support and assistance to its 60 domestic violence member programs, and to better enable survivors to overcome immediate economic barriers and secure long-term financial independence and safety, PCADV created the Economic Justice and Empowerment Initiative, Investing in Survivors’ Financial Independence. To support and sustain this initiative, PCADV established a partnership with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) and applied for an Allstate Foundation Moving Ahead Financial Empowerment Grant in 2012.

Empowering Survivors and Delivering Hope

Because domestic violence has long been considered a taboo subject, many women suffer in silence, and that is where The Allstate Foundation has found its role: inspiring and empowering survivors and delivering hope where there was none to end the cycle of abuse.

Inspired by independent research indicating that access to financial resources is the number one predictor of whether a woman will break free and stay free, The Allstate Foundation has put financial empowerment at the center of its approach to empowering women to achieve the financial self-sufficiency they need to get free and stay free from abuse.

Based on the PCADV Coalitions’ groundbreaking work and application, the Allstate Foundation awarded a grant to PCADV to support the work of the job readiness/training component of their Initiative, as well as the implementation of PCADV’s first economic justice pilot, YWCA of North Central PA, Wise Options in Lycoming County. 

In 2013, the partnership was expanded to include three additional economic justice pilot sites Centre County Women’s Resource Center (Centre County), AWARE (Mercer County) and Victim’s Intervention Program (Wayne County) as well as a matched savings account program.

In a press release announcing the expanded support, PCADV Executive Director Peg Dierkers stated,

“PCADV and its statewide network of 60 community-based domestic violence programs know, from more than three decades of working with victims, that financial instability ranks as the No. 1 reason why they stay with or return to their abuser. Many victims endanger themselves so their children can have a home. By preparing victims for the workplace and teaching them budgeting and financial planning skills, this initiative gives them the tools they need to obtain employment, save money and start new lives free from abuse.”

What PCADV Hopes to Accomplish Through This Partnership

Domestic violence affects more individuals than breast cancer, ovarian cancer and lung cancer combined.  It is a national crisis that threatens the safety and security of survivors, their families and our communities. The Coalition’s partnership with NNEDV and Allstate is committed to help end domestic violence and make a positive difference in people’s lives and in the communities in which we live.  And having a widely recognized and respected company like Allstate lends credibility and status to PCADV’s efforts. 

Results & Benefits of this Partnership

In addition to supporting the job readiness/training and matched savings account program components of PCADV’s Initiative through the Allstate Foundation Moving Ahead Financial Empowerment Grant, Allstate encourages its employees to volunteer at PCADV financial empowerment trainings and workshops.

With the support of Allstate Financial Empowerment services, PCADV was able to serve over 190 domestic violence survivors during the 2012-2013 grant period, and expects to greatly surpass those numbers in the coming year.

Our thanks to Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s (PCADV) for sharing how their relationship with The Allstate Foundation got started and has made an impact in the community while engaging employees in the process!  To learn more about the impact PCADV is making, visit http://www.pcadv.org.