Abriendo Puertas, a program in Sussex County under the nonprofit People’s Place, received $20 thousand in funding from the Mary Kay Ash Foundation.
Abriendo Puertas – which means “open doors” in Spanish – is an emergency shelter that serves Latina survivors of domestic violence and their children.
The funding from the Mary Kay Ash Foundation will help keep the shelter’s doors open and provide things like food, electricity and cell phones to survivors.
People’s Place associate director Blanche Creech said it’s crucial to get survivors phones.
“Safety plans really require a phone... To keep your children safe and yourself safe, you need to be able to call for help.”
Creech said the nonprofit has experienced reductions in federal funding recently.
“We also have had really extraordinary difficulty keeping this program funded, so we were thrilled to get the Mary Kay funding.”
Creech added Latinas face cultural barriers and are often less likely to call the police or ask for help. Abriendo Puertas’ staff are all bicultural and bilingual.
“And of course, they share language,” Creech said. “If they're involved with trying to get a protection order, the staff person can translate everything for them and make it meaningful and connect it to cultural pieces that we may not even understand or even think about.”
