ALLIES IN CHANGE'S MISSION
The mission of Allies in Change is to raise awareness of, educate about, and encourage the practice of healthy, loving and respectful relationshipswith oneself, one's partner and family, and the community. As our name reflects, Allies in Change intends to promote working with others as allies.
We acknowledge that some cultural values such as traditional definitions of gender roles and power may undermine a person's ability to be fullyloving in relationships. We seek to address and change these values on individual, familial and societal levels.
As an organization, we seek to practice these values ourselves in both our professional and personal lives.
01
Raising public awareness
Most people, including many in abusive relationships, have a stereotypical and limited understanding of domestic violence. Many wrongly believe it primarily consists of extreme physical violence that is illegal and leaves the abuse partner in fear of their life. If they cannot check off at least one, if not all three of those aspects, then many do not consider it to be IPV. In fact, most IPV involves non-physical abuse that is not illegal and does not leave the abuse partner in fear of their life.
There is also often limited understanding of other aspects of IPV such as the underlying pattern it forms and the many ways it manifests itself as well as other common aspects of it. As people receive more thorough and comprehensive training to better understand the true nature of IPV in its nuance and complexity, they are much more likely to see it in their own relationships as well as those in other family members, friends, co-workers, customers/clients, and other community members. This can allow them to name it, raise awareness in others, and support others in getting the assistance they need through their roles as family member, friend, co-worker, service provider, or community member.
02
Improving the quality of abuse intervention services
Most abuse intervention programs are small and part-time endeavors with limited staff and very limited funding. Many programs cannot afford on-going professional education, supervision, and professional development. Allies in Change is willing to share the resources it has developed at little to no cost to other programs. It is also committed to further developing and refining its resources based on the accumulated wisdom and experience of its staff, the abusive and abused partners who utilize its services, and from the lessons learned by other programs and staff from around the country and the world. It also seeks to keep abreast of the latest research and developments in the field. All of this is intended to be shared as inexpensively and as broadly as possible.