Service Learning Proposal

Service Learning Proposal for Harbor House of Central Florida

By: Fawn B. & Connor, M.

September 23, 2012

Meredith Tweed

WST 3015

Community Partner Profile:

Community Partner: Harbor House of Central Florida

Contact: Shelley Rodgers, Development Officer

Community Partner Mission: Harbor House of Central Florida is a program that seeks to end intimate partner violence by providing safety, shelter, and counseling to survivors, as well as comprehensive education and advocacy throughout the community (Harbor House of Central Florida).

Political and/or social basis for organization: “Harbor House believes that prevention is a key part of ending domestic abuse” (Harbor House of Central Florida), so in addition to providing housing and other services for over 100 domestic violence survivors at a time, they head a variety of community action projects. In particular, Project Courage is an initiative designed to educate youth, schools, businesses, faith institutions, and other community partners about how to recognize the signs of abuse, respond to those who have been victimized, and how refer those individuals to appropriate places to seek helpful resources (Harbor House of Central Florida).

Community Partner Needs: Harbor House depends heavily on the work of volunteers in order to keep their program running successfully. They are in need of volunteers to preform essential functions at the shelter such as organizing the food pantry & cleaning the child space. On a more community level, they seek volunteers who are interesting in being trained to advocate and raise awareness about intimate partner violence and abuse during informational fairs and public events. Also, like any nonprofit, they need a variety of donations ranging from food to personal hygiene products.

The Proposal:

The following proposal will address the issue we plan to focus on, our course of action in order to meet the needs of our community partner, and how this issue directly relates to the field of women’s studies. The action plan of this proposal is subject to revision and is flexible in order to meet the needs of the community partner.

Defining Intimate Partner Violence:

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines intimate Partner violence as “any physical, sexual, or psychological harm [caused] by a current or former partner or spouse” (CDC). Currently, one in four women in the United States has experienced some form of intimate partner violence or will in her lifetime (CDC). 

Rationale for Women’s Studies:

Violence and its use in the oppression of women is very present throughout the world today. Much of this violence can be seen in Intimate Partner Abuse. This violence is used structurally as a way of keeping women subordinate to men in this patriarchal society.

From a micro level, IPA is often explained in terms of an individual mental health problem, innate sexual craving or personal dysfunction on behalf of the perpetrators (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 264). This micro-level analysis of partner abuse belittles the overall issue, but the individual struggles of women are the most important in understanding the causes, effects, and warning signs of partner abuse. 

From an economic standpoint, women as a group earn less than men forcing them to rely on men for financial support. In the case of an abusive relationship, lack of finances of restricted access to finances makes it almost impossible for women to leave an abusive relationship (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 266).

Regardless of individual experience, finances, or knowledge about the issue of IPA, Harbor House of Central FL seeks to provide counseling and shelter to all women who seek it. Harbor House works both to saves the lives of individuals and promote an educated culture safe for women.

Plan Proposal:

Education is one of the most powerful tools for igniting social change. Through tabling events and advocacy training with Harbor House of Central FL, and by hosting a donation drive, we aim to educate not only ourselves, but also our campus and community about the prevalence of intimate partner violence and how to recognize and react to it within our own communities.

We will table at several community events on behalf of Harbor House to increase education and awareness of Intimate Partner Violence. In doing this we hope to hinder the intergenerational transmission of abuse within families (Harbor House of Central Florida). While the intergenerational transmission of violence and abuse is a problem all on its own, intimate partner violence education is a preventative measure that can help save the lives of many by teaching both women and men to recognize the warning signs of a violent and controlling partner. Tabling is a great way to deliver this information as well as a way to inform people about the resources available for victims and families in their community.

In order to directly reach out to and assist victims of intimate partner abuse, we will be participating in Harbor House’s “Project Courage” campaign. For this campaign, we will be a part of a group delivering informative door hangers in high-risk neighborhoods. Last year, 72 hours after this event,  “calls to the Harbor House crisis hotline doubled and 27 women and children fled their abusive homes” (Harbor House of Central Florida). Many victims who have been involved in long-term violent relationship experience a “learned hopelessness”, in which they learn that it is impossible to escape (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 264) and distributing these door hangers is a good way to reach out to those individuals.

In addition to participating in Harbor House related community events, we will be hosting a donation drive in partnership with Knight Advocates on campus to benefit Harbor House as well as Safe House of Seminole County. During our orientation at Harbor House, we learned that they were in need of personal hygiene products at the shelter. Therefore, we decided to host a hygiene drive titled: “Give Survivors a Fresh Start.”

Action:

We have already begun our project by attending Harbor house orientation and registering for RRR training. This is designed to teach us how to recognize, respond, and refer, members in the community, that we may encounter while tabling, who can benefit from the Harbor House program.

We plan to hold our drive from October 5^th to October 31^st, in honor of domestic violence awareness month. We have already had meetings with Knight Advocates and UCF Victim Services, and both have agreed to assist us with publicizing and promoting our event. We are also in contact with some offices around UCF that will act as ‘drop-off’ locations for students and faculty who wish to donate.

Time Line:

Sept 29- Project Courage Door Hanging Event

Oct 2^nd  – RRR training

Oct 5^th -31^st: Donation Drive

Oct 14^th – Harbor House Tabling at Family Day event

Nov 10^th – Harbor House Tabling at Community Health Fair

Nov 11^th – Service Learning Project complete

* Dates of meeting with Knight Advocates and Victim Services are not listed because they have not been established at this time.

Word Count: 1119.

Works Cited:

CDC. "Intimate Partner Violence: Definitions." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20 Sept. 2010. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

"Harbor House of Central Florida." Harbor House of Central Florida. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.