PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Debbie Donastorg, Program Director of Safe Homes Project at Good Shepherd Services
3:04:05
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126 sec
Debbie Donastorg, Program Director of Safe Homes Project at Good Shepherd Services, testified about the challenges faced by domestic violence survivors in New York City's shelter system and community-based programs. She emphasized the need for more resources, trauma-informed care, and support for both survivors and shelter staff.
- Highlighted issues include lack of affordable housing, translation services, childcare, and immigration support
- Stressed the importance of trauma-informed training for shelter staff
- Called for increased investment in programs supporting domestic violence survivors both within and outside the shelter system
Debbie Donastorg
3:04:05
Thank you.
3:04:06
Thank you, Chair of Yalla and Chair of Louise.
3:04:10
My name is Debbie Doris Lorgan.
3:04:11
I'm the program director to Safe Homes Project, a community based domestic violence program under good shepherd services.
3:04:20
We operate our location as in Parkslow, Brooklyn, and we also have staffing at the Brooklyn Family Justice Center.
3:04:29
I I guess I wanna hit on a couple of points.
3:04:32
You know, this the Safehold's program works closely with the family justice center in Brooklyn receiving anywhere between 5 and 6 referrals daily.
3:04:41
And our referrals come from all over, including DB and homeless shelters.
3:04:45
And some of the challenges that we're seeing at our fast the families that we're seeing are experiencing is a lack of, obviously, a lack of affordable housing, access to translation and language services, access to childcare, so families couldn't follow-up with their appointments and, you know, and seek employment.
3:05:06
There's very limited access to immigration, information, and legal support.
3:05:15
There's busing concerns when families are in shelter.
3:05:20
And, also, one of the very important parts of this also challenge is that there's a lack of trauma informed support for shelter staff.
3:05:28
Staffing shelters need to be trained in trauma informed care to best support their work.
3:05:34
Considering that often, you know, staff are credible messengers and survivors dealing with by carrier is trauma.
3:05:40
And and this is really critical.
3:05:43
And it's critical to invest in programs and support for the shelters that are supporting domestic violence survivors and their families in New York City system, as well as programs such as Safe Homes project, which is extending their support to outside shelter outside of the shelter system itself.
3:06:02
And I wanna thank you for the opportunity to testify.
3:06:08
And if there's any questions, I will also submit our testimony.
← Previous Chapter
Testimony by Shani Adess, Vice President of New York Legal Assist Group (NYLAG), on Supporting Survivors of Domestic Violence in NYC's Shelter System
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Testimony by Danielle Emery, Director of People and Animals Living Safely (PALS) at Urban Resource Institute (URI), on Pet-Inclusive Domestic Violence Shelters
