March Newsletter

Celebrating Women Pioneers in Domestic Violence

Over the last 43 years, we’ve seen a lot of strong women come through our doors and inspire us through their strength and resiliency. At Domestic Abuse Project, 68% of the participants that we serve are people who identify as women. While we do serve every member of the family, this month, we would like to highlight the incredible women that we have had the honor of serving and learning from.

Victim Survivor Program

Domestic Abuse Project’s Victim Survivor Program works with adult survivors of domestic violence to help them understand abuse as a part of a larger systemic issue and to heal from abuse. Our therapists address mental health issues that result from experiencing domestic abuse, which often include anxiety, depression, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, sleep disturbances, and emotional detachment.

We are proud that 68% of the participants we serve are women. Of the victim survivors that we serve, 51% come in reporting low-resiliency. When victim survivors leave our programming, 95% report feelings of high resilience. 97% of the victim survivors who graduate from our programs report that they have learned the tools to reduce harm in their intimate partner relationships.

We applaud the wonderful women that have the courage and strength to make their way into our programming, and we admire each of you for all you’ve accomplished to end cycles of generational trauma!

Celebrating Our Female Executive Director, Amirthini Keefe!

Amirthini has been working at the Domestic Abuse Project for 5.5 years— 2 of those years as the Executive Director. We are so grateful for her expertise and commitment to anti-racist, community-centric practices. Learn more about Amirthini below.

Why are you passionate about domestic violence work?

“I grew up in a South Asian community were domestic and sexual violence were excused. Luckily, I had many strong female figures in my life that taught me what it meant to be an advocate. So that’s how I decided to dedicate myself to this line of work.”

What do you think makes DAP unique?

“I think the fact that we work with everyone in the family— we provide services for survivors, child witnesses, and folks who use violence. Because of that, as staff, we get a nuanced understanding of the struggles that our families are experiencing, trying to navigate all three of those perspectives under one roof. It helps us to better empathize with our participants, and keeps us motivated to break the cycle.”

Tell us about a DAP experience that was fun for you!

“When we are able to balance the dark and the light here at DAP, dance seems to be a huge theme. I have seen a lot of people stand in my doorway and dance. People dancing when we get in a big grant. One fun memory is that we were off boarding a staff member, and the entire staff met up, practiced a dance, and did a literal flash mob to see them off. People here are so creative, fun, and care a lot about each other.”

What excites you about the field moving forward?

“The innovation. I see so many people being courageous in the ideas they’re trying to implement. Lots of investment in community-led change. It’s inspiring to see.”

We love and appreciate you and your leadership, Amirthini!!

Honoring Local Domestic Violence Pioneer — Comfort Dondo

This month we are honoring cultural healing pioneer, Comfort Dondo. She uses her powerful personal story to break the stigma and silence around childhood trauma and childhood sexual abuse in African Immigrant communities in Minnesota.

She seeks to establish culturally specific mental health healing service and substance abuse support to address what she believes is an invisible epidemic. To bring cultural healing to greater numbers of women in her community, she plans to build a pool of therapists and coaches who understand the unique challenges of child sexual abuse and gender-based violence toward African immigrant women. Dondo is also a Bush Fellow.

We see you and celebrate your efforts, Comfort! To learn more about her work, click here.

Recognizing Our Community— Martha Ginder

Ginder, a long time volunteer and past board member at the Domestic Abuse Project, has been awarded St. Paul/Minneapolis Business Journal’s 40 Under 40! Martha works as a Managing Director at Piper Sandler, where she leads the Multi-Cultural Network, and is an active member of their Women’s Network and Pride Network. She has been an invaluable support of the Domestic Abuse Project over the years as a volunteer, board member, and donor.

We are so grateful to have Martha in our corner. We see you, Martha!!

Volunteer Spotlight— Jess Wiley

Jess has been connected with the Domestic Abuse Project for 13 years, beginning as a table captain, then a volunteer in 2013. She volunteers on our First Call phone line, on our Advancement Committee, and she used to serve as our Board Chair.

Why do you enjoy volunteering at DAP?

“I love giving back to the community, for one. It feels really good to be supporting people in our community that are vulnerable, need programs, and do not know where to go for resources.”

What do you like about DAP?

“I was an educator, so I really resonate with the children’s program, and supporting children so that they don’t follow in the patterns of their parents. Which I think is critical. I love helping children and parents to build their resiliency. DAP is so unique that it serves the victim, perpetrator, and all family members. This type of wraparound care is so essential, and we need more of it!”

What have you learned during your time at DAP?

“I’ve learned that we can stop patterns of abuse— it’s not hopeless. There are trauma informed therapies and strategies that can help people change their behavior. We need more of these services!”

Are there any memories that stick out to you?

“I’ve heard from so many couples who have said that DAP has completely transformed their lives. Every time I hear from these families, I am so moved.”

Thank you, Jess, for your dedication and service to the Domestic Abuse Project!

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Are you in need of support at this time?

Call our First Call line at 612-874-7063 x232.

Partnership in Kazakhstan

In 2020, our Executive Director, Amirthini Keefe, alongside our Victim Survivor Program, facilitated a training with delegates, systems personnel and mental health specialists from the country of Kazakhstan. The country had made domestic violence a criminal offense only a few years prior, and they were looking to expand their knowledge about domestic violence and how to support survivors.

It was a wonderful learning opportunity for us as an organization and a powerful experience of supporting change in other parts of the world. We learned that a result of our partnership was the creation of a manual, based off of our training, that has been translated into Russian. Additionally, it resulted in a study on the lack of access to information about domestic violence within higher education in Kazakhstan and the development of a university course on domestic violence taught by the Director of the agency that we partnered with!

This year our Intervention and Prevention program was able to facilitate a training on working with individuals who use violence and trained over 80 mental health specialists. We hope to continue partnering with this wonderful community to share our knowledge and expand the resources available to families struggling with domestic violence in Kazakhstan.

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