Umbrella, VT
Umbrella’s mission is to cultivate a Northeast Kingdom where all people thrive free from abuse and oppression. They believe that oppression and the systemic abuse of power is at the root of domestic and sexual violence, stalking, teen dating violence, human trafficking, as well as violence related to gender or sexual orientation — which in total is characterized as gender-based violence. They seek to embody a world where those who have been disempowered by poverty, discrimination and other obstacles are able to live peaceful, self-directed lives.
Umbrella will implement an expansion of its effective Healing Together project, a FVPSA Specialized Services for Abused Parents and Their Children Discretionary Grants program, to develop specialized, trauma-informed, developmentally and age-appropriate, culturally relevant, and linguistically accessible services for non-abusing parents, children, and youth who are exposed to family violence, domestic violence, or dating violence (FV/DV) in Vermont’s rural Caledonia, Essex, Orleans, Franklin, and Grand Isle Counties and Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility. Activities will address critical systemic gaps in child- and family-focused FV/DV services, supporting parents and children together. Healing Together objectives and sub objectives are to: (1) partner with the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Vermont’s DV/SV Coalition; Voices Against Violence, a local DV advocacy and supervised visitation provider; DIVAS and LUND/Kids-A-Part programs for incarcerated women; and state level partners, to improve systems to support abused parents and their children and youth who have been exposed to FV/DV.
