Help Stock Our Pantry

Every year, Hubbard House provides shelter for more than 800 women, children, and men who are victims of domestic violence. When a victim leaves his or her abuser, there may be no time for packing and planning the escape. Once you make the decision to leave, you grab what you can find and leave your home whenever that chance may appear. Therefore, many victims arrive to Hubbard House with nothing but the clothes on their back.

When entering Hubbard House’s emergency shelter, the victims have not only found a safe haven, but also come to a place that gives them an opportunity to rebuild their life and start fresh. Victims stay in the shelter anywhere between a few days up to eight weeks. During their stay, Hubbard House offers several programs and services to facilitate the victims’ transition into a new, violence-free life.

It is often important for victims to reside in a place similar to a home. To aid the healing process further, it may also be crucial for victims and their children to still be able to sit down and enjoy a family dinner together. Therefore, Hubbard House provides victims with access to a stocked pantry for all their daily meals and snacks. In order to do so, however, Hubbard House relies heavily on the generosity of the community to keep that pantry stocked with both non-perishable and perishable* foods.

At this point in time, Hubbard House is running low on food due to the current economy, resulting in budget cuts and declines in food donations. Thus, food donations from the community are incredibly vital in helping keep the pantry stocked.

On average, Hubbard House has more than 70 women and children staying in shelter. No matter how big or small, any donation makes a difference and is greatly appreciated. If you are interested in organizing a food collection drive, through your place of employment, with your family and friends, or through your civic or church group, to benefit victims of domestic violence and their children, please contact us at agriffin@hubbardhouse.org or 904-354-0076 ext. 301.

Examples of food items needed:

• $50.00 Gift cards for perishable items
• Instant Mashed Potatoes
• Instant Rice
• Juice
• Dinner Rolls (off the shelf)
• Canned Fruit
• Canned Vegetables
• Crackers
• Cereal/Cereal Bars
• Peanut Butter
• Jelly
• White Sugar
• Instant Tea/Kool-Aid
• Canned meats and fish
• Condiments (ketchup, mayo, mustard)
• Ready-made meals (stew, ravioli, mac-n-cheese)
• Long-life milk (evaporated or dry)
• Any other non-perishable food item

*Perishable foods do not have a long shelf life; gift cards to various supermarkets are preferred. Perishable foods needed are fresh milk, eggs, butter, meats and cheeses.

If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence, Hubbard House can help. Please call the Hubbard House domestic violence hotline at 904-314-3114 or 1-800-500-1119.

ABOUT HUBBARD HOUSE

Hubbard House is a nationally recognized leader in domestic violence intervention. Founded in 1976, Hubbard House is a certified, comprehensive domestic violence center providing programs and services to more than 5,000 women, children and men annually in Duval and Baker counties. While Hubbard House is most known for its emergency shelter, the agency also provides extensive adult and youth outreach services, school-based education, therapeutic child care, batterers’ intervention programs, court advocacy and volunteer and community education opportunities. Visit www.hubbardhouse.org to learn more.

By Vicky Krook

A Father’s Day Call to Action

Father’s Day is a time to celebrate and honor men who are fathers or serve as father figures. As a father or father figure you have the opportunity to serve as a positive male role model to children and young adults. Through this role you will help form the behaviors and opinions they will carry with them through adulthood, this includes the way they feel about domestic violence.

Domestic violence is often viewed as a women’s issue and many men feel they should not get involved. However, domestic violence is everyone’s issue. It does not discriminate against ethnicity, gender, economic level or zip code. A sobering statistic states that one out of every four women will be affected by domestic violence at some point in their lifetime. The women affected by this violence could be your mother, your sister, your daughter, a coworker, a friend or neighbor.

Men are critical to violence prevention efforts because males are more likely to listen to other males when it comes to the perpetration of domestic violence. This kind of leadership and mentorship is imperative to having a strong, healthy, and productive community.

Hubbard House, the certified domestic violence center serving Duval and Baker counties ask in honor of Father’s Day for men to take an active role in helping to end domestic violence in our community.

Here are just a few ways men can help make a difference in ending domestic violence:

• Take a stance and speak out against domestic violence and set an example by choosing non-violent means of conflict resolution.
• In their capacities, pastors, community and civic leaders must reinforce the message that domestic violence is unacceptable.
• Help other men by being a listening ear or lending a helping hand in times of high stress when domestic violence is more likely to happen.
• Act as a positive role model to youth by teaching young males how to treat and respect women and by teaching young females how they should be treated and respected.
• Educate youth about sex and violence in popular culture and mainstream media and set a very clear standard about respect.
• Emphasize the importance of communicating without abusive actions or words.

So to all who are fathers or father figures, as you are celebrated on this Father’s Day by those whose lives you’ve influenced remember the vital roles you will continue to play in the lives of the ones you love.

If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship please call the Hubbard House Domestic Violence Hotline at (904) 354-3114 or 1 (800) 500-1119.

ABOUT HUBBARD HOUSE

Hubbard House is a certified, comprehensive domestic violence center providing programs and services to more than 5,000 women, children, and men annually in Duval and Baker counties. While Hubbard House is most known for its emergency shelter, the agency also provides extensive adult and youth outreach services, school-based education, therapeutic childcare, batterers’ intervention programs, court advocacy and volunteer and community education opportunities. Visit www.hubbardhouse.org to learn more.

By Ashley Johnson

National Men’s Health Week: Domestic Violence Against Men

Each year, the week leading up to Fathers Day is celebrated as National Men’s Health Week. This week, several activities are organized to raise awareness of preventable health problems related to men and to encourage early detection and treatment among men and boys.

When we consider health issues among males, most people tend to think of common problems such as heart attacks, prostate cancer, hypertension, liver disease, and other problems often associated with men’s health. A health issue that often goes unnoticed, however, is the occurrence of domestic violence against men.

Statistics do show that partner abuse is much more commonly committed against women than men. In fact, women make up 85 to 95 percent of domestic violence victims. However, men are affected by domestic violence as well.

Very little is known about the real number of men who are being abused by an intimate partner, and the apparent frequency of domestic violence against men is so low that it is hard to get a reliable estimate. The low frequency may be a result of the reluctance among male victims to report an abusive relationship due to fear of embarrassment and not being believed. A male victim may fear he will be perceived as a wimp for reporting abuse, and/or feel as if he has failed to conform to the macho stereotype. Signs of abuse on men are commonly ignored as relating to partner abuse. Instead they are frequently thought of as results from contact sports, injuries at work, or fights with other men, etc.

While the reasons, purposes, and motivations for abuse can differ between the sexes, the use of physical abuse, such as kicking, hitting, slapping, pushing, throwing objects, etc, tend to be similar between male and female abusers.

Although physical harm is likely to be much greater when a man abuses a woman than vice versa, this is not the same for emotional harm. For some men, being called a coward, impotent, or a failure can have a very devastating psychological impact on them.

People usually do not assume men can be victims of domestic violence and, therefore, nothing has been done to encourage male victims to report crimes of relationship abuse. Although it is crucial to end the pervasive issue of violence against women, it is also important to recognize the hidden abuse affecting men as well.

Hubbard House offers shelter for both women and men who need help. If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship please call the Hubbard House domestic violence hotline at 904-354-3114 or 1-800-500-1119.

ABOUT HUBBARD HOUSE

Hubbard House is a nationally recognized leader in domestic violence intervention. Founded in 1976, Hubbard House is a certified, comprehensive domestic violence center providing programs and services to more than 5,000 women, children and men annually in Duval and Baker counties. While Hubbard House is most known for its emergency shelter, the agency also provides extensive adult and youth outreach services, school-based education, therapeutic child care, batterers’ intervention programs, court advocacy and volunteer and community education opportunities. Visit www.hubbardhouse.org to learn more.

By Vicky Krook

National LGBT Pride Month

President Obama announced June as National LGBT Pride Month in an attempt to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

An estimated nine million people represent the LGBT population in the United States. Although LGBT Americans make up a significant portion of our national life, they continuously deal with issues of hate crimes, discrimination, bias, and isolation on a regular basis. In addition, domestic violence affects many LGBT relationships.

Statistics show most LGBT individuals affected by domestic violence are in their 30s, yet abuse occurs at all ages within the LGBT population. Two in five gay and bisexual men experience domestic violence in intimate relationships. This is comparable to the number of heterosexual women affected by partner abuse. Moreover, about half of the lesbian population will experience some form of domestic violence during their lifetime.

Partner abuse in same-gender relationships occurs with about the same frequency as in opposite-gender relationships, and the types of abuse are no different from those present in heterosexual domestic violence. Laws for protection of same-sex victims differ widely across the United States, and many victims of LGBT relationship abuse are reluctant to seek help due to fear of discrimination and bias. Therefore, the presence of domestic violence in LGBT relationships is vastly underreported and abuse crimes are often reported as something else than domestic violence.

No one deserves to be abused. If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship please call the Hubbard House domestic violence hotline at (904) 314-5114 or (800) 500-1119.

ABOUT HUBBARD HOUSE

Hubbard House is a nationally recognized leader in domestic violence intervention. Founded in 1976, Hubbard House is a certified, comprehensive domestic violence center providing programs and services to more than 5,000 women, children and men annually in Duval and Baker counties. While Hubbard House is most known for its emergency shelter, the agency also provides extensive adult and youth outreach services, school-based education, therapeutic child care, batterers’ intervention programs, court advocacy and volunteer and community education opportunities. Visit www.hubbardhouse.org to learn more.

By Vicky Krook

National Children’s Awareness Month

Not all children have the wonderful childhood we all hope to provide for our own children. Many children live in fear and neglect, and each year, approximately 3.3 million children experience some form of domestic violence. Therefore, June has been established as the National Children’s Awareness Month to increase awareness about the vulnerability of children exposed to violence.

Domestic violence is the single most important forerunner to child abuse and 30 to 60 percent of perpetrators of partner abuse also abuse the children in the household. Child abuse may occur at any time between infancy and adolescence, and for every hour, as many as 115 children are abused.

Children who witness violent and abusive behavior in the home are the most likely individuals to become perpetrators of domestic violence in the future. Men who are exposed to domestic violence in childhood are twice as likely to abuse their own partner and children, while women experiencing abuse in childhood are more likely to become victims of domestic violence in the future.

While 90 percent of children from violent homes witness their fathers beating their mothers, batterers often use unsupervised visits as an opportunity to psychologically abuse their children. This is often done in an effort to continue terrorizing the mother. These children tend to report stomach aches, diarrhea, nightmares, bedwetting, and violent behaviors against siblings and caretakers both before and after the visits.

Children react differently to abuse depending on age and gender. They may experience emotional, social, behavioral, and/or physical disturbances. Common effects on children include anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder, self-blaming, and self-destructive behaviors. Moreover, abused children are arrested by the police four times more often than non-abused children. A major issue is the failure among children to report crimes of domestic violence or sexual abuse due to shame, fear of retaliation, or fear of not being believed.  

Hubbard House is a leader in programming developed to help children of domestic violence between the ages 3 to 17. The Helping Kids At Risk program (HARK) is a 12-week course designed to empower children  from abusive homes by teaching them anger management skills, non-violent behavior conflict resolution, and respect for others, in order to break the cycle of violence. Hubbard House also offers a children’s counseling program, a therapeutic childcare center, and a Hubbard House school.

No child deserves to be abused! If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship please call the Hubbard House domestic violence hotline at 904-354-3114 or 1-800-500-1119.

ABOUT HUBBARD HOUSE

Hubbard House is a nationally recognized leader in domestic violence intervention. Founded in 1976, Hubbard House is a certified, comprehensive domestic violence center providing programs and services to more than 5,000 women, children and men annually in Duval and Baker counties. While Hubbard House is most known for its emergency shelter, the agency also provides extensive adult and youth outreach services, school-based education, therapeutic child care, batterers’ intervention programs, court advocacy and volunteer and community education opportunities. Visit www.hubbardhouse.org to learn more.

By Vicky Krook