Dottie’s House, an Ocean County organization that provides essential housing and rehabilitation services to victims of domestic abuse, was awarded over $250,000 in federal funding to help with the costs of offering expanded support services on-site, announced U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) who helped the organization obtain the funding.

    Dottie’s House received a grant from the Department of Justice’s Domestic Violence Transitional Housing Assistance Program which will provide the organization with $255,000 over a three year period. The federal money will be utilized to help the organization with the costs of providing expanded support services, including on-site parenting classes.

    “This grant will enable Dottie’s House to expand their efforts to help piece back together lives shattered by domestic violence,” Smith said. “Dottie’s House has a proven record of success in their work to rehabilitate victims. Of the battered women who have successfully received services and completed the program at Dottie’s House, 100% have reached their goals of financial independence and permanent housing. This is a program that is extremely worthy of the federal government’s investment.” 

    The parenting classes will be offered by the Children’s Home Society of Trenton, which is partnering with Dottie’s House on this project, and will be co-facilitated by two master’s-level social workers. The grant will also partially fund the professional staff of Dottie’s House, including the partial costs of a master’s-level licensed social worker and the program director.

    “We are very excited about the opportunity to provide more intensive services for our residents, including parenting education,” said Deborah Galletta, Dottie’s House Program Director. “We are confident that, with the help of our partner, the Children’s Home Society, we can continue to prepare our residents to live independent, violence-free lives.”

    “Dottie’s House is extremely appreciative of the unwavering support of Congressman Smith since inception,” said Carol A. Wolfe, Executive Director and Founder of Dottie’s House. “Congressman Smith is a strong advocate for survivors of domestic violence and their families, and he recognizes the consistent, unrelenting need for more intensive, thorough services for these survivors so that we can attempt to change their lives forever.”

    Since it’s inception in 1999, Dottie’s House has provided physical, emotional and financial support for up to two years for women and children whose lives have been fractured by domestic abuse. Their comprehensive transitional program provides victims with safe shelter, vital life skills and comprehensive social services including mental counseling, job readiness, financial and credit repair guidance and parenting classes. Dottie’s House was expanded to more than double its capacity in 2007 with the addition of nine new apartments, in response to the demand for shelter and services for domestic violence victims in the Ocean County area.

    Smith, who sent a letter of support to DOJ for Dottie’s House’s grant request, noted that “expansion of services at Dottie’s House is vital as they help fill an enormous need for secure shelter and assistance for battered women as, sadly, demand continues to outweigh services available in New Jersey.”

    “The most recent compilation of data available from the New Jersey State Police indicated that there were over 75,000 reported acts of domestic violence in New Jersey in 2005. Nearly half of those cases were assaults and 41 cases resulted in murder,” Smith said. “Dottie’s House has responded to these tragic statistics and expanded their facility to more than double their transitional housing capacity and help over twice as many families seeking to break out of the cycle of domestic violence.”

    Dottie’s House now has seventeen apartments—sixteen multi-room apartments and one studio apartment. The facility also houses a multi-purpose room, individual counseling rooms, a job training room and an art therapy room.