April 14, 2025 • 29 mins
What happens when someone finally says, “I need help”? In this episode of Spotlight Houston, host Blanca Quezada talks with Celinda Guerra from the Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC) about how they help people heal from domestic violence, sexual assault, and sex trafficking.
HAWC provides free, private help for women, children, and men who are facing abuse. Celinda shares how their team offers emotional support, safe housing, legal aid, and more—so survivors can feel safe and move forward.
HAWC offers 24/7 hotlines for domestic violence and sexual assault. Survivors can talk to trained advocates in English, Spanish, and 140 other languages using interpreters. For those who can’t speak safely, a live chat option is available on their website. Support begins the moment someone reaches out.
Once connected, survivors have access to counseling, either one-on-one or in groups, to begin healing from trauma. Legal advocates help with protective orders and explain survivors’ rights. Hospital advocates provide support during exams after an assault and even bring clean clothes when needed. HAWC also helps survivors create safety plans tailored to their unique situation.
The organization’s economic empowerment program teaches job skills, helps with financial literacy, and connects survivors to resources so they can rebuild independent lives. HAWC supports the whole family—offering child care, parenting classes, and even an on-site HISD school so children stay safe and learning.
HAWC recently opened One Safe Place, a beautiful new housing center with three times more room—offering 360 beds and on-site services to help survivors heal, grow, and thrive.
Don’t miss HAWC’s Annual Believe Luncheon on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, from 12:00–1:00 PM at the Marriott Marquis Houston, 1777 Walker St. Registration and social hour start at 11:00 AM. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare will speak at the event. Get tickets and details at: https://hawc.org/believe2025/.
Key points discussed:
- 24/7 hotlines for domestic violence (713-528-2121) and sexual assault (713-528-7273)
- Emergency shelter and transitional housing at their new center, One Safe Place
- Onsite HISD school and childcare
- Counseling and mental health support
- Legal aid and hospital accompaniment
- Economic empowerment programs to help survivors become independent
- Services for LGBTQ+ survivors and survivors with immigration concerns
- New chat feature at https://www.hawc.org for those who can’t call safely
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
So we actually operate two separate hotlines, one for domestic violence and one
(00:03):
for sexual assault. Very busy hotlines. We receive over
50,000 calls each year. And then in addition to that, in
recent times, we actually added a chat feature. So now
survivors also have the option if they don't feel prepared to make that
phone call or if they feel more comfortable chatting, they can now go on
our website, and there is a chat feature that they can access there. So
(00:25):
instead of making that phone call, they're able to talk to one of our crisis
hotline counselors through through chat. And this has proven
to be very lifesaving as well. During the pandemic, if we
all remember, we were all stuck at home, and nobody was going anywhere. And
that included survivors who were at home with their abusers being
hurt, and making a phone call wasn't an option. So being
(00:47):
able to provide this alternative form of communication for survivors
has really been lifesaving because a lot of times, survivors were
reaching out to us through this chat line and saying, can you call the police
for me? Because they were able to communicate more discreetly in that way.
And we also know that for our younger generations, that is a preferred way of
communication. So we wanted to make sure that we also have that option for
(01:08):
that for those generations as well.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of Spotlight Houston, where we bring
you the best people, places, and events in Greater Houston. This week, we're talking
about the incredible work being done to support survivors of domestic
abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. Our guest is
(01:31):
Selena Guerra, director of hotline and crisis intervention at the Houston
Area Women's Center, also known as Hawk. Selinda
shares how Hawk provides life saving support from emergency
housing and counseling to legal advocacy, childcare,
job training, and a 247 crisis hotline. She also gives
us a sneak peek at One Safe Place, Hawke's brand new facility that's
(01:53):
tripling their ability to care for survivors. Plus, we'll tell you
how to support their mission by attending the upcoming Believe Luncheon on
04/23/2025. This is episode one thirty
three with an original air date of Monday,
04/14/2025. Spotlight Houston is brought to you
by Storyzone Media. And now here's your host, Blanca Quesada.
(02:14):
When we hear just the words domestic violence,
a lot of things come into mind, and we know that
a woman has been abused or hurt or even the
kids. And a lot of these women suffer
in silence, probably because they feel scared,
helpless, and maybe have nowhere to go to.
(02:37):
So today, I've invited Selinda Guerra.
She is the director of hotline and crisis intervention
for the Houston Area Women's Center because,
honestly, I've been astonished at the number of women
that have experienced domestic violence. And
I can't even imagine what the kids go through if they have
(03:00):
kids. But I do know that your center,
the Houston Area Women's Center, is the best
place where people can go, and you provide lots of
help and assistance to women for or have been for a
very long time. And, of course, being the director
of of the hotline and crisis
(03:22):
intervention, you hear all kinds of stories,
and and you provide a lot of help that way.
But before we get into all that, can you tell
me when and who established this amazing center
for women and families? Yeah. Of course. And, Blanca, thank you so much for
giving us the opportunity to be part of your podcast and reach so many people
(03:45):
in our community that it's important that they know about this organization,
but most importantly, that they know about these issues that are affecting our
community every single day. We are fortunate enough to
be part of this organization that's done incredible work for over
forty eight years. The organization was established in 1977
with a few volunteers with some borrowed phones.
(04:07):
They started a hotline and started seeing the need
for our community. Women who in our community were speaking up
and talking about the violence that they were experiencing in their homes, the
sexual abuse that that they were experiencing, and
being able to be part of an organization that every year
does the very best to ensure that our community
(04:30):
is well supported. But most importantly, also being part of an
organization that's looking to preventing this from happening, and
that's such an important piece of the work that we do. Of course, we
are readily available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week for
anyone out there who, unfortunately, might have experienced domestic violence, have
might experience a sexual abuse. And whether it was a few hours
(04:52):
ago or two decades ago, we know that this
has a huge impact on survivors. So being part
of an organization that is so thoughtful about making sure that we're keeping
up with everything and that we're advocating at every level that we
can to try to prevent this from continuing to happen, I cannot
be prouder to be part of such an important organization and be
(05:14):
working with so many partners in our community that are also fighting for this and
working hard at this. So once again, thank you so much for the opportunity
to be here and talk about the work that we do and talk about these
issues that are affecting so many individuals in our community. I mean,
this is certainly an issue that that deserves a lot of attention
that we need to talk about. Yeah. It certainly is a
(05:36):
very important organization. I definitely agree with
that. And prevention is really important as well,
but it's difficult to try and
stop this from happening anymore
because it's something that people suffer behind closed doors.
And there's the fear and, like,
(05:58):
women feel powerless, and they really don't know where to turn
to maybe at that moment or maybe years
later. And so, definitely, the more the
word gets up, the better it'll be for a lot of women
that are enduring this situation. So I
know that it it's a life saving services that you
(06:21):
provide and and not only just to domestic
violence, but also sexual violence. You
make an effort to empower different individuals,
families, and communities to transform this
trauma so that the women feel
safe and independent and move on with their lives.
(06:43):
So how is it that the Houston Area Women's
Center actually addresses these issues? So
every opportunity that we have to talk about these issues out in our
community, we wanna take that opportunity. So there's a variety of
ways that that we raise awareness. We can't work
do this work alone. It takes so many. So we need the support and the
(07:06):
help of all of those that are willing to be part of this movement
in making changes because it's such an important piece and something that
really affects us. So any opportunity that we have to go
out and talk about who we are and what we do and
educate people of what is domestic violence, what is sexual assault,
then we take the opportunity to go out in our community and do trainings. So
(07:29):
anywhere from professional trainings to medical staff, to
law enforcement, to community organizations, to
those that are working in our communities that have strong
relationships with their community, who can get the word out and talk
about these issues, being able to know how to
also recognize the abuse, knowing how to
(07:50):
respond when they do recognize the abuse, and then knowing where
to refer individuals so that when someone comes up to
us and we hear these stories and we know that they've been
abused, that we also know how to respond, right, and how to connect them to
this resource. So Right. We have a responsibility to do all of those
three very very important things. So once again,
(08:12):
having the opportunity to be also on platforms like like yours,
anytime the media gives attention to the work that we're doing, we take
those opportunities to make sure that we're informing and educating
everyone about these issues. Yeah. We all have to
somehow help whenever we can.
And even if it's just one person, we have to help.
(08:35):
And like I said, it's a silent kind of thing that
happens. Nobody really wants to talk about what's
going on behind closed doors. And the other thing too is
that when we think of domestic violence,
we think of, of course, women getting hit,
physical abuse. But what we don't think about a lot
(08:57):
of times is the mental abuse, and we sometimes
don't even see it. And unless the person tells you about
it, we'll never know. Absolutely. And this is a public
health issue. It's affecting people in very critical ways, and
it's just as important as other public health issues, and it deserves the
attention. One of the things that you mentioned is it's so difficult to talk about,
(09:20):
or a lot of times it happens behind closed doors. And, absolutely, a
lot of our cultures have taught us that way throughout the years
that, you know, when you have issues and you're married, you
don't just you don't talk about them. You kinda keep them secret, or
people might be ashamed to talk about what they're experiencing because
oftentimes, survivors feel like it's their fault, like they did
(09:41):
something wrong because their abusers manipulate them and coerce them
into thinking certain things. So first of all, it's a learning
experience for survivors a lot of times when they call our twenty four hours
crisis hotline. They're not quite sure if they're just having
problems, marriage problems, or problems with their partner.
Not quite sure if they should call it abuse because, again,
(10:04):
there's so much manipulation there. Exactly. And this is also an
issue that affects not only women, but we know that it also affects
men. It's gonna impact the children who are witnessing the abuse as
well. When we talk about sexual assault, same thing. I mean, it can
happen to anyone, and oftentimes, it is not the stranger
in the alley because you are out really late at night. The majority of the
(10:26):
time, it's people we know that that are causing
the this sexual abuse. So so important again to bring attention
to these issues and validate survivors that are out there that this is
not their fault, that they didn't do anything wrong, that they don't deserve
this, and that they don't have to continue to stay in a place that is
no longer safe for them because help is available. Yeah.
(10:48):
And organizations like ours understand. Yeah. Yeah. And you
mentioned married people, but it actually happens
to even teenagers, teen girls Absolutely. Who
go out on a date or something. Absolutely. Yeah. And they don't
wanna say anything because they feel embarrassed just like older women
might feel embarrassed. Yeah. They feel embarrassed. A lot of times, they're
(11:10):
threatened with being hurt or hurting those that they love.
Or when we talk about immigration, a lot of times they're being
also threatened that they're gonna report them. Given the times that we're living in right
now where there's that's an even more sensitive issue than ever before,
people are afraid to come forward because there's so many things to think about.
So oftentimes, we can be quick to judge someone
(11:33):
for staying in an abusive relationship. Right. But there are so many
valid reasons why someone might stay, and we understand that. And we're
not here to judge anyone. We're not here to tell anyone what to do.
We wanna inform the public of the rights that they have, the
resources that they have, the support services that they have so
they can make the decision that is in their best interest. Yeah. But
(11:55):
they're not alone that somebody there is to help them. Yeah.
Yeah. All they have to do is call that hotline. Absolutely. And our
hotline is available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
We have crisis hotline advocates that are immediately
ready to respond in both English and in Spanish. We also
use an interpretation service that offers a 40 different
(12:18):
languages, so language should not be a barrier. And we're
available twenty four seven, which means it doesn't matter if it's 03:00 in the afternoon
or three in the morning. We are here to support them and listen and
hopefully be able to give them options. Do you have a shelter
where some of these women can go to just in case they can't
call but need to go somewhere? Yeah. Absolutely. So we do have a
(12:40):
emergency housing facility. As a matter of fact, we are so
proud and so excited that within the next few weeks, we are going
to open officially our doors to our new
center. So currently at our Well, look. I'm sorry for interrupting,
but it looks like it's gonna be beautiful. It is beautiful.
It is beautiful. And we couldn't have done it alone without the support of our
(13:03):
city, of our county, of the community. And it's one of
the biggest things about this center is that we have tripled our
capacity. So we're going from 120 beds to
360 beds. Some that have been designated for
emergency housing, some that have been designated for transitional housing.
It is a beautiful facility and, most importantly, a very safe and
(13:26):
secure facility. And so many more services
available within that facility. I mean, not only are they gonna have a safe
place to stay for themselves and their children, but they're also going to
have access to childcare, which is so important in these cases in
order for survivors to become self sufficient and reach new goals in
their healing journey. We have an HISD school
(13:48):
on-site. A lot of times, there's concern about the children going
to school and worried about the abuser picking them up, especially when
custody hasn't been established. And they have a school on-site
so that the parents don't have to worry about their children being in
danger. We have counseling services because we know how important
emotional support can be. So we have counseling services available
(14:10):
in both in individual settings and also in group
settings, so whichever the survivor feels more comfortable
with. We also have legal advocacy because we know that a big part of
this is also what are my legal rights, or if I do
this, is it right that I do this? So being able to know what their
rights are and what laws protect survivors is also a very important
(14:32):
piece. And then there's also economic empowerment because we
know how difficult it is. A lot of times, survivors stay in a
relationship because they're so concerned about how they're going to feed their
children. Will they be able to provide them a roof over their head? So
through their economic empowerment program, they prepare them and guide them in
reaching that self sufficiency. So it's a very complete
(14:54):
program. The idea is not to just provide support services in
an instant in in in the emergency. It's also about looking at
the future and moving forward and ensuring that they have all the support services that
they need. What about health services and mental health
services? Yeah. So with the mental health services through our behavioral health
program, we're able to provide all of those services as well as we
(15:16):
partner with a lot of also medical facilities that
are able to ensure that if anyone is needing also physical
medical care, that they're making those connections as well. And how long
are they able to stay in that shelter? So we typically start off
with a thirty day stay, but at thirty days, we evaluate their
case to figure out where they are and what we need to do to
(15:38):
move forward. So there's not necessarily a general time frame. Every
time frame is gonna look different based on each individual situation.
Do you find that a lot of times, some of these women go
back to be with their abuser? It can be. A lot of times in these
cases, we see that it takes eight to 10 times before someone
officially leaves an abusive relationship. Good. And there are a lot of very
(16:01):
valid reasons for that. Again, making that decision, first of all, is very
difficult. A lot of times in these cases, women are
threatened in many ways. A lot of times, they are
worried about the lifestyle that they'll be able to give their children.
There's a lot of valid reasons. So, yeah, it takes eight to 10 times, and
we will be available every single time that they need the help. Yeah. They're
(16:22):
here for their lives. Absolutely. And the kids' lives too if
they have kids. Right. And one of the great things that we do as part
of this crisis response program is when someone calls our hotline
and shares their story, which, by the way, is completely confidential,
and all of the services that we offer, of course, are free of charge, they
can contact us, and we can also evaluate for their
(16:44):
safety. We have our staff is trained in
being able to conduct what we call lethality or
danger assessments to help us identify the risk level that they're in
so that we can then respond with a more specific and tailored
safety plan for their individual situation. So just by making
that phone call, we can put things into perspective for them so that they better
(17:06):
understand their situation and know how to stay safe and know how to
respond in case of an emergency. Yeah. And I'm sure they
come in very traumatized. So how do
you help with that? Oh my goodness, Blanca. I mean, even when we
first take that phone call, the experiences that they are sharing
are so traumatic. They've been through so much. So, of course, we
(17:29):
are immediately able to provide that crisis intervention, that
emotional support, getting them settled, and then, like I mentioned, getting
them connected to our behavioral health program where they'll be able to receive
all those additional support services. This happens every
day. And I I know you have statistics.
And I like I said, I'm astonished just how many women
(17:52):
daily have to will not necessarily
have to, but are in this situation.
Absolutely. It's one in three women, one in four men that unfortunately are
experiencing domestic violence. That is a lot. In addition to
that, when we talk about sexual assault, which we are in April, which is sexual
assault awareness month, and we certainly wanna be able to give attention to this as
(18:15):
well, is that every sixty eight seconds in The United
States, someone is sexually assaulted. So those are huge and
concerning numbers. These are numbers that we definitely want to
see go down. The important thing is that you
mentioned earlier, you would think at this time and age we wouldn't be dealing with
things like that. Right. But, unfortunately, we are. We've made
(18:36):
some progress, of course, because we've been working hard for many years, and, of course,
progress has been made. Attention has been given to these
issues. But we need to continue to advocate, and we need to continue
to work together and continue to learn and understand these issues better
so that we can continue to prevent this because we know the
impact, again, that it has in our community. So we certainly
(18:58):
appreciate all the support from everyone who's giving more and more attention to
these issues so that we're able to continue to do this work and continue
to prevent this from happening. Yeah. You've mentioned men.
What kind of services do you provide for them? So we're able to provide all
the different support services that I've mentioned so far for men. So the same services
that we have available for women, we also have them available for men.
(19:21):
We have tailored services specific to sometimes certain
needs. We also serve our GLBTQ plus community.
We also are able to serve those individuals that identify
as transgender. So all the services that that we have,
unfortunately, when it comes to these issues, it can impact absolutely
anyone. It doesn't matter your race, your age, your
(19:44):
gender. None of that matters, unfortunately, in this. Yeah.
Actually, I'm glad you mentioned men because I used to have
a neighbor who was a guy, but his
girlfriend used to abuse him. And they wouldn't just do
it in private. I mean, he would try to get away, and so
he would go outside, and she would follow
(20:06):
him and be beating the living daylights out of him. And
I'm like, poor guy. He doesn't wanna hit her back.
What can he do? And so he just leaves, but then he comes
back. And so I don't know what happened to them. I
hope they got help, but I witnessed something like that.
And so when it's something like that happens
(20:29):
to a guy, do you have a different center just for men?
So right now, the way that we are operating in our facility, we don't have
the ability to accommodate men within the same facility because of the
structure that it has. We are looking forward in being able to make
additional accommodations that hopefully would be able to provide that. But one of the
greatest things is that we've always been able to also operate what
(20:51):
we reference as our safe harbor program, which is a temporary
hotel stay. So Okay. A lot of times, if for some reason
we're not able to accommodate them within our facility, we look
to our partner agencies that do have the ability to do that, or we
rely on this safe harbor program to be able to accommodate them there as well.
Yeah. Can they call your hotline as well? Absolutely.
(21:13):
Our hotline is well prepared and equipped to be able to answer
to everyone's call. So we are here for everyone. Yeah.
And you also have 247 assault
hotline. Right? That's right. So we actually operate two separate
hotlines, one for domestic violence and one for sexual assault. Very
busy hotlines. We receive over 50,000 calls each year. And
(21:35):
then in addition to that, in recent times, we actually added a chat
feature. So now survivors also have the option if they don't feel
prepared to make that phone call or if they feel more comfortable
chatting, they can now go on our website, and there is a chat feature
that they can access there. So instead of making that phone call, they're able to
talk to one of our crisis hotline counselors through through chat.
(21:57):
And this has proven to be very life saving as well.
During the pandemic, if we all remember, we were all stuck at home and nobody
was going anywhere, and that included survivors who were at home with their
abusers being hurt. And making a phone call wasn't an
option. So being able to provide this alternative form of
communication for survivors has really been lifesaving because a lot of times,
(22:20):
survivors were reaching out to us through this chat line and saying, can you call
the police for me? Because they were able to communicate more discreetly in that
way. And we also know that for our younger generations, that is a
preferred way of communication. So we wanted to make sure that we also have that
option for that for those generations as well. Yeah. And, of
course, it's always confidential, so they don't have to worry
(22:42):
about who's gonna know or nothing. They don't have
anything to fear, basically. Absolutely. Basically. Do
you happen to train advocates as well to
accompany a lot of these women to the hospital? We do.
And what a great program to be able to offer because it's such a critical
and difficult time for survivors. So being able to go
(23:03):
out to the our local hospitals across the region and then
provide these important services for them in that moment. Shortly
after someone has been physically hurt by possibly their
spouse or their partner or someone who's been just
sexually assaulted, whether it was a stranger or someone that they know,
and being able to be there presently with them. We come out there
(23:25):
and we provide crisis intervention again and emotional support. A
lot of times, even the medical staff is not able to move
forward with the medical support because they
are so impacted, so distraught, so traumatized by what's happened.
So our advocates are able to come out there and provide that
emotional support to hopefully deescalate the level of crisis that
(23:46):
they're in so that then the medical staff can come in and do their job,
of course. We're able to also assess for the needs that they have.
A lot of times, it's not gonna be safe for them to go back home.
So we're able to coordinate shelter while while we're there at the hospital.
We're able to provide transportation to a safe place if needed. And then
maybe what may not seem the most important part of the work that we do,
(24:07):
but it is in its own way, is being able to provide a change of
clothing. A lot of times Yeah. Clothing is kept for
evidence. And if any of us remember being in a
hospital robe or in scrubs, you know, how uncomfortable that can be. So
imagine have experienced one of these things and then having to
to have to wear that it's not what the survivors deserve, so we're able to
(24:28):
bring out a change of clothing for them as well. Right. And
so coming up, you have a great fundraiser.
It's a fundraising luncheon, actually. Tell me a little bit
about that. So we are always so excited about this luncheon.
It's an opportunity for us to come together with a lot of our supporters.
It's an opportunity for others in our community who wanna learn more about
(24:51):
an organization to learn about it and also support us at the same
time. This is going to take place pretty soon. It's right around the corner.
It's gonna be on Wednesday, April. There are still
tickets available. Anyone can look on our website at
www.hawc.org
to get more information and register. And we are so excited.
(25:13):
This lunch is, again, not only an opportunity for us to come together for for
an important cause and to give to this important cause, but, also, like I
mentioned, learn about it. And this year, we're gonna have the
opportunity to have our Harris County District Attorney to
join us, Sean Teer. So he will be our guest speaker to be able
to continue to talk about how we can work together
(25:36):
in partnership to better support and seek justice for
survivors. So it's gonna be a great talk. Really looking forward to it.
Yeah. And this fundraiser luncheon is happening at the
Marquee downtown. Right? It is. It's actually happening, yes,
at the Marquee downtown, the Marriott Marquee. And I think
that you also have a lot of community events coming up,
(25:58):
which I think are gonna be great. But people can go online
and find out everything that you've got coming up? That's right. They can go
on our website once again, ww.hawk.org.
They will find all the information about these events, again, that we
have an opportunity to host this April for sexual
assault awareness month. And to find out just more in detail
(26:20):
who we are and what we do, it's a great website, very well put
together. And once again, if anybody were to come across someone that
is needing support services, knowing that they can reach our hotlines
and also our chat services as well. Yeah. And they're
247, so you don't have to worry about how long it's
gonna you have to wait for somebody to answer. Exactly. And, again, we're a
(26:43):
busy hotline, but we're trying to get to every call as quickly as possible. And
most importantly, I always like to mention that once again, it doesn't matter
what time of the day it is. It doesn't matter if someone can't sleep in
the middle of the night and just wants to talk to someone. We are here
to support them in any way that we can. What is the phone number
for the hotlines, like, for the sexual assault and other
(27:04):
hotlines that you have? Yeah. So our sexual assault hotline can be reached at
(713)
528-7273, and our
domestic violence hotline can be reached at (713)
528-2121. And where are you located
just in case they can't call you, but they wanna go knock on your door?
Yeah. So we are located near the NRG area.
(27:27):
One of the things that we have the opportunity now is to
really have presence to the public. Of course, the best way
to access our services is always through our hotline. It is the gateway of our
organization. That's how we can get connected. So even though, of
course, people are always welcome to come, we always suggest that they call
our hotline first just to make make sure that we are very well prepared
(27:49):
for them. So they can always reach us on our hotlines as we just mentioned.
And, of course, if you want to volunteer, become an advocate,
all they gotta do is go online and get all that information,
plus more. So, Celinda, thank you so much
for joining me today and for informing women
and families that there is a place that provides
(28:12):
help if they're experiencing any type of
abuse. And, I would also like to thank y'all as well
for joining me. Please send me your comments, or if you have any
story ideas, let me know.
So we actually operate two separate hotlines, one for domestic violence and one
(00:03):
for sexual assault. Very busy hotlines. We receive over
50,000 calls each year. And then in addition to that, in
recent times, we actually added a chat feature. So now
survivors also have the option if they don't feel prepared to make that
phone call or if they feel more comfortable chatting, they can now go on
our website, and there is a chat feature that they can access there. So
(00:25):
instead of making that phone call, they're able to talk to one of our crisis
hotline counselors through through chat. And this has proven
to be very lifesaving as well. During the pandemic, if we
all remember, we were all stuck at home, and nobody was going anywhere. And
that included survivors who were at home with their abusers being
hurt, and making a phone call wasn't an option. So being
(00:47):
able to provide this alternative form of communication for survivors
has really been lifesaving because a lot of times, survivors were
reaching out to us through this chat line and saying, can you call the police
for me? Because they were able to communicate more discreetly in that way.
And we also know that for our younger generations, that is a preferred way of
communication. So we wanted to make sure that we also have that option for
(01:08):
that for those generations as well.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of Spotlight Houston, where we bring
you the best people, places, and events in Greater Houston. This week, we're talking
about the incredible work being done to support survivors of domestic
abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. Our guest is
(01:31):
Selena Guerra, director of hotline and crisis intervention at the Houston
Area Women's Center, also known as Hawk. Selinda
shares how Hawk provides life saving support from emergency
housing and counseling to legal advocacy, childcare,
job training, and a 247 crisis hotline. She also gives
us a sneak peek at One Safe Place, Hawke's brand new facility that's
(01:53):
tripling their ability to care for survivors. Plus, we'll tell you
how to support their mission by attending the upcoming Believe Luncheon on
04/23/2025. This is episode one thirty
three with an original air date of Monday,
04/14/2025. Spotlight Houston is brought to you
by Storyzone Media. And now here's your host, Blanca Quesada.
(02:14):
When we hear just the words domestic violence,
a lot of things come into mind, and we know that
a woman has been abused or hurt or even the
kids. And a lot of these women suffer
in silence, probably because they feel scared,
helpless, and maybe have nowhere to go to.
(02:37):
So today, I've invited Selinda Guerra.
She is the director of hotline and crisis intervention
for the Houston Area Women's Center because,
honestly, I've been astonished at the number of women
that have experienced domestic violence. And
I can't even imagine what the kids go through if they have
(03:00):
kids. But I do know that your center,
the Houston Area Women's Center, is the best
place where people can go, and you provide lots of
help and assistance to women for or have been for a
very long time. And, of course, being the director
of of the hotline and crisis
(03:22):
intervention, you hear all kinds of stories,
and and you provide a lot of help that way.
But before we get into all that, can you tell
me when and who established this amazing center
for women and families? Yeah. Of course. And, Blanca, thank you so much for
giving us the opportunity to be part of your podcast and reach so many people
(03:45):
in our community that it's important that they know about this organization,
but most importantly, that they know about these issues that are affecting our
community every single day. We are fortunate enough to
be part of this organization that's done incredible work for over
forty eight years. The organization was established in 1977
with a few volunteers with some borrowed phones.
(04:07):
They started a hotline and started seeing the need
for our community. Women who in our community were speaking up
and talking about the violence that they were experiencing in their homes, the
sexual abuse that that they were experiencing, and
being able to be part of an organization that every year
does the very best to ensure that our community
(04:30):
is well supported. But most importantly, also being part of an
organization that's looking to preventing this from happening, and
that's such an important piece of the work that we do. Of course, we
are readily available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week for
anyone out there who, unfortunately, might have experienced domestic violence, have
might experience a sexual abuse. And whether it was a few hours
(04:52):
ago or two decades ago, we know that this
has a huge impact on survivors. So being part
of an organization that is so thoughtful about making sure that we're keeping
up with everything and that we're advocating at every level that we
can to try to prevent this from continuing to happen, I cannot
be prouder to be part of such an important organization and be
(05:14):
working with so many partners in our community that are also fighting for this and
working hard at this. So once again, thank you so much for the opportunity
to be here and talk about the work that we do and talk about these
issues that are affecting so many individuals in our community. I mean,
this is certainly an issue that that deserves a lot of attention
that we need to talk about. Yeah. It certainly is a
(05:36):
very important organization. I definitely agree with
that. And prevention is really important as well,
but it's difficult to try and
stop this from happening anymore
because it's something that people suffer behind closed doors.
And there's the fear and, like,
(05:58):
women feel powerless, and they really don't know where to turn
to maybe at that moment or maybe years
later. And so, definitely, the more the
word gets up, the better it'll be for a lot of women
that are enduring this situation. So I
know that it it's a life saving services that you
(06:21):
provide and and not only just to domestic
violence, but also sexual violence. You
make an effort to empower different individuals,
families, and communities to transform this
trauma so that the women feel
safe and independent and move on with their lives.
(06:43):
So how is it that the Houston Area Women's
Center actually addresses these issues? So
every opportunity that we have to talk about these issues out in our
community, we wanna take that opportunity. So there's a variety of
ways that that we raise awareness. We can't work
do this work alone. It takes so many. So we need the support and the
(07:06):
help of all of those that are willing to be part of this movement
in making changes because it's such an important piece and something that
really affects us. So any opportunity that we have to go
out and talk about who we are and what we do and
educate people of what is domestic violence, what is sexual assault,
then we take the opportunity to go out in our community and do trainings. So
(07:29):
anywhere from professional trainings to medical staff, to
law enforcement, to community organizations, to
those that are working in our communities that have strong
relationships with their community, who can get the word out and talk
about these issues, being able to know how to
also recognize the abuse, knowing how to
(07:50):
respond when they do recognize the abuse, and then knowing where
to refer individuals so that when someone comes up to
us and we hear these stories and we know that they've been
abused, that we also know how to respond, right, and how to connect them to
this resource. So Right. We have a responsibility to do all of those
three very very important things. So once again,
(08:12):
having the opportunity to be also on platforms like like yours,
anytime the media gives attention to the work that we're doing, we take
those opportunities to make sure that we're informing and educating
everyone about these issues. Yeah. We all have to
somehow help whenever we can.
And even if it's just one person, we have to help.
(08:35):
And like I said, it's a silent kind of thing that
happens. Nobody really wants to talk about what's
going on behind closed doors. And the other thing too is
that when we think of domestic violence,
we think of, of course, women getting hit,
physical abuse. But what we don't think about a lot
(08:57):
of times is the mental abuse, and we sometimes
don't even see it. And unless the person tells you about
it, we'll never know. Absolutely. And this is a public
health issue. It's affecting people in very critical ways, and
it's just as important as other public health issues, and it deserves the
attention. One of the things that you mentioned is it's so difficult to talk about,
(09:20):
or a lot of times it happens behind closed doors. And, absolutely, a
lot of our cultures have taught us that way throughout the years
that, you know, when you have issues and you're married, you
don't just you don't talk about them. You kinda keep them secret, or
people might be ashamed to talk about what they're experiencing because
oftentimes, survivors feel like it's their fault, like they did
(09:41):
something wrong because their abusers manipulate them and coerce them
into thinking certain things. So first of all, it's a learning
experience for survivors a lot of times when they call our twenty four hours
crisis hotline. They're not quite sure if they're just having
problems, marriage problems, or problems with their partner.
Not quite sure if they should call it abuse because, again,
(10:04):
there's so much manipulation there. Exactly. And this is also an
issue that affects not only women, but we know that it also affects
men. It's gonna impact the children who are witnessing the abuse as
well. When we talk about sexual assault, same thing. I mean, it can
happen to anyone, and oftentimes, it is not the stranger
in the alley because you are out really late at night. The majority of the
(10:26):
time, it's people we know that that are causing
the this sexual abuse. So so important again to bring attention
to these issues and validate survivors that are out there that this is
not their fault, that they didn't do anything wrong, that they don't deserve
this, and that they don't have to continue to stay in a place that is
no longer safe for them because help is available. Yeah.
(10:48):
And organizations like ours understand. Yeah. Yeah. And you
mentioned married people, but it actually happens
to even teenagers, teen girls Absolutely. Who
go out on a date or something. Absolutely. Yeah. And they don't
wanna say anything because they feel embarrassed just like older women
might feel embarrassed. Yeah. They feel embarrassed. A lot of times, they're
(11:10):
threatened with being hurt or hurting those that they love.
Or when we talk about immigration, a lot of times they're being
also threatened that they're gonna report them. Given the times that we're living in right
now where there's that's an even more sensitive issue than ever before,
people are afraid to come forward because there's so many things to think about.
So oftentimes, we can be quick to judge someone
(11:33):
for staying in an abusive relationship. Right. But there are so many
valid reasons why someone might stay, and we understand that. And we're
not here to judge anyone. We're not here to tell anyone what to do.
We wanna inform the public of the rights that they have, the
resources that they have, the support services that they have so
they can make the decision that is in their best interest. Yeah. But
(11:55):
they're not alone that somebody there is to help them. Yeah.
Yeah. All they have to do is call that hotline. Absolutely. And our
hotline is available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
We have crisis hotline advocates that are immediately
ready to respond in both English and in Spanish. We also
use an interpretation service that offers a 40 different
(12:18):
languages, so language should not be a barrier. And we're
available twenty four seven, which means it doesn't matter if it's 03:00 in the afternoon
or three in the morning. We are here to support them and listen and
hopefully be able to give them options. Do you have a shelter
where some of these women can go to just in case they can't
call but need to go somewhere? Yeah. Absolutely. So we do have a
(12:40):
emergency housing facility. As a matter of fact, we are so
proud and so excited that within the next few weeks, we are going
to open officially our doors to our new
center. So currently at our Well, look. I'm sorry for interrupting,
but it looks like it's gonna be beautiful. It is beautiful.
It is beautiful. And we couldn't have done it alone without the support of our
(13:03):
city, of our county, of the community. And it's one of
the biggest things about this center is that we have tripled our
capacity. So we're going from 120 beds to
360 beds. Some that have been designated for
emergency housing, some that have been designated for transitional housing.
It is a beautiful facility and, most importantly, a very safe and
(13:26):
secure facility. And so many more services
available within that facility. I mean, not only are they gonna have a safe
place to stay for themselves and their children, but they're also going to
have access to childcare, which is so important in these cases in
order for survivors to become self sufficient and reach new goals in
their healing journey. We have an HISD school
(13:48):
on-site. A lot of times, there's concern about the children going
to school and worried about the abuser picking them up, especially when
custody hasn't been established. And they have a school on-site
so that the parents don't have to worry about their children being in
danger. We have counseling services because we know how important
emotional support can be. So we have counseling services available
(14:10):
in both in individual settings and also in group
settings, so whichever the survivor feels more comfortable
with. We also have legal advocacy because we know that a big part of
this is also what are my legal rights, or if I do
this, is it right that I do this? So being able to know what their
rights are and what laws protect survivors is also a very important
(14:32):
piece. And then there's also economic empowerment because we
know how difficult it is. A lot of times, survivors stay in a
relationship because they're so concerned about how they're going to feed their
children. Will they be able to provide them a roof over their head? So
through their economic empowerment program, they prepare them and guide them in
reaching that self sufficiency. So it's a very complete
(14:54):
program. The idea is not to just provide support services in
an instant in in in the emergency. It's also about looking at
the future and moving forward and ensuring that they have all the support services that
they need. What about health services and mental health
services? Yeah. So with the mental health services through our behavioral health
program, we're able to provide all of those services as well as we
(15:16):
partner with a lot of also medical facilities that
are able to ensure that if anyone is needing also physical
medical care, that they're making those connections as well. And how long
are they able to stay in that shelter? So we typically start off
with a thirty day stay, but at thirty days, we evaluate their
case to figure out where they are and what we need to do to
(15:38):
move forward. So there's not necessarily a general time frame. Every
time frame is gonna look different based on each individual situation.
Do you find that a lot of times, some of these women go
back to be with their abuser? It can be. A lot of times in these
cases, we see that it takes eight to 10 times before someone
officially leaves an abusive relationship. Good. And there are a lot of very
(16:01):
valid reasons for that. Again, making that decision, first of all, is very
difficult. A lot of times in these cases, women are
threatened in many ways. A lot of times, they are
worried about the lifestyle that they'll be able to give their children.
There's a lot of valid reasons. So, yeah, it takes eight to 10 times, and
we will be available every single time that they need the help. Yeah. They're
(16:22):
here for their lives. Absolutely. And the kids' lives too if
they have kids. Right. And one of the great things that we do as part
of this crisis response program is when someone calls our hotline
and shares their story, which, by the way, is completely confidential,
and all of the services that we offer, of course, are free of charge, they
can contact us, and we can also evaluate for their
(16:44):
safety. We have our staff is trained in
being able to conduct what we call lethality or
danger assessments to help us identify the risk level that they're in
so that we can then respond with a more specific and tailored
safety plan for their individual situation. So just by making
that phone call, we can put things into perspective for them so that they better
(17:06):
understand their situation and know how to stay safe and know how to
respond in case of an emergency. Yeah. And I'm sure they
come in very traumatized. So how do
you help with that? Oh my goodness, Blanca. I mean, even when we
first take that phone call, the experiences that they are sharing
are so traumatic. They've been through so much. So, of course, we
(17:29):
are immediately able to provide that crisis intervention, that
emotional support, getting them settled, and then, like I mentioned, getting
them connected to our behavioral health program where they'll be able to receive
all those additional support services. This happens every
day. And I I know you have statistics.
And I like I said, I'm astonished just how many women
(17:52):
daily have to will not necessarily
have to, but are in this situation.
Absolutely. It's one in three women, one in four men that unfortunately are
experiencing domestic violence. That is a lot. In addition to
that, when we talk about sexual assault, which we are in April, which is sexual
assault awareness month, and we certainly wanna be able to give attention to this as
(18:15):
well, is that every sixty eight seconds in The United
States, someone is sexually assaulted. So those are huge and
concerning numbers. These are numbers that we definitely want to
see go down. The important thing is that you
mentioned earlier, you would think at this time and age we wouldn't be dealing with
things like that. Right. But, unfortunately, we are. We've made
(18:36):
some progress, of course, because we've been working hard for many years, and, of course,
progress has been made. Attention has been given to these
issues. But we need to continue to advocate, and we need to continue
to work together and continue to learn and understand these issues better
so that we can continue to prevent this because we know the
impact, again, that it has in our community. So we certainly
(18:58):
appreciate all the support from everyone who's giving more and more attention to
these issues so that we're able to continue to do this work and continue
to prevent this from happening. Yeah. You've mentioned men.
What kind of services do you provide for them? So we're able to provide all
the different support services that I've mentioned so far for men. So the same services
that we have available for women, we also have them available for men.
(19:21):
We have tailored services specific to sometimes certain
needs. We also serve our GLBTQ plus community.
We also are able to serve those individuals that identify
as transgender. So all the services that that we have,
unfortunately, when it comes to these issues, it can impact absolutely
anyone. It doesn't matter your race, your age, your
(19:44):
gender. None of that matters, unfortunately, in this. Yeah.
Actually, I'm glad you mentioned men because I used to have
a neighbor who was a guy, but his
girlfriend used to abuse him. And they wouldn't just do
it in private. I mean, he would try to get away, and so
he would go outside, and she would follow
(20:06):
him and be beating the living daylights out of him. And
I'm like, poor guy. He doesn't wanna hit her back.
What can he do? And so he just leaves, but then he comes
back. And so I don't know what happened to them. I
hope they got help, but I witnessed something like that.
And so when it's something like that happens
(20:29):
to a guy, do you have a different center just for men?
So right now, the way that we are operating in our facility, we don't have
the ability to accommodate men within the same facility because of the
structure that it has. We are looking forward in being able to make
additional accommodations that hopefully would be able to provide that. But one of the
greatest things is that we've always been able to also operate what
(20:51):
we reference as our safe harbor program, which is a temporary
hotel stay. So Okay. A lot of times, if for some reason
we're not able to accommodate them within our facility, we look
to our partner agencies that do have the ability to do that, or we
rely on this safe harbor program to be able to accommodate them there as well.
Yeah. Can they call your hotline as well? Absolutely.
(21:13):
Our hotline is well prepared and equipped to be able to answer
to everyone's call. So we are here for everyone. Yeah.
And you also have 247 assault
hotline. Right? That's right. So we actually operate two separate
hotlines, one for domestic violence and one for sexual assault. Very
busy hotlines. We receive over 50,000 calls each year. And
(21:35):
then in addition to that, in recent times, we actually added a chat
feature. So now survivors also have the option if they don't feel
prepared to make that phone call or if they feel more comfortable
chatting, they can now go on our website, and there is a chat feature
that they can access there. So instead of making that phone call, they're able to
talk to one of our crisis hotline counselors through through chat.
(21:57):
And this has proven to be very life saving as well.
During the pandemic, if we all remember, we were all stuck at home and nobody
was going anywhere, and that included survivors who were at home with their
abusers being hurt. And making a phone call wasn't an
option. So being able to provide this alternative form of
communication for survivors has really been lifesaving because a lot of times,
(22:20):
survivors were reaching out to us through this chat line and saying, can you call
the police for me? Because they were able to communicate more discreetly in that
way. And we also know that for our younger generations, that is a
preferred way of communication. So we wanted to make sure that we also have that
option for that for those generations as well. Yeah. And, of
course, it's always confidential, so they don't have to worry
(22:42):
about who's gonna know or nothing. They don't have
anything to fear, basically. Absolutely. Basically. Do
you happen to train advocates as well to
accompany a lot of these women to the hospital? We do.
And what a great program to be able to offer because it's such a critical
and difficult time for survivors. So being able to go
(23:03):
out to the our local hospitals across the region and then
provide these important services for them in that moment. Shortly
after someone has been physically hurt by possibly their
spouse or their partner or someone who's been just
sexually assaulted, whether it was a stranger or someone that they know,
and being able to be there presently with them. We come out there
(23:25):
and we provide crisis intervention again and emotional support. A
lot of times, even the medical staff is not able to move
forward with the medical support because they
are so impacted, so distraught, so traumatized by what's happened.
So our advocates are able to come out there and provide that
emotional support to hopefully deescalate the level of crisis that
(23:46):
they're in so that then the medical staff can come in and do their job,
of course. We're able to also assess for the needs that they have.
A lot of times, it's not gonna be safe for them to go back home.
So we're able to coordinate shelter while while we're there at the hospital.
We're able to provide transportation to a safe place if needed. And then
maybe what may not seem the most important part of the work that we do,
(24:07):
but it is in its own way, is being able to provide a change of
clothing. A lot of times Yeah. Clothing is kept for
evidence. And if any of us remember being in a
hospital robe or in scrubs, you know, how uncomfortable that can be. So
imagine have experienced one of these things and then having to
to have to wear that it's not what the survivors deserve, so we're able to
(24:28):
bring out a change of clothing for them as well. Right. And
so coming up, you have a great fundraiser.
It's a fundraising luncheon, actually. Tell me a little bit
about that. So we are always so excited about this luncheon.
It's an opportunity for us to come together with a lot of our supporters.
It's an opportunity for others in our community who wanna learn more about
(24:51):
an organization to learn about it and also support us at the same
time. This is going to take place pretty soon. It's right around the corner.
It's gonna be on Wednesday, April. There are still
tickets available. Anyone can look on our website at
www.hawc.org
to get more information and register. And we are so excited.
(25:13):
This lunch is, again, not only an opportunity for us to come together for for
an important cause and to give to this important cause, but, also, like I
mentioned, learn about it. And this year, we're gonna have the
opportunity to have our Harris County District Attorney to
join us, Sean Teer. So he will be our guest speaker to be able
to continue to talk about how we can work together
(25:36):
in partnership to better support and seek justice for
survivors. So it's gonna be a great talk. Really looking forward to it.
Yeah. And this fundraiser luncheon is happening at the
Marquee downtown. Right? It is. It's actually happening, yes,
at the Marquee downtown, the Marriott Marquee. And I think
that you also have a lot of community events coming up,
(25:58):
which I think are gonna be great. But people can go online
and find out everything that you've got coming up? That's right. They can go
on our website once again, ww.hawk.org.
They will find all the information about these events, again, that we
have an opportunity to host this April for sexual
assault awareness month. And to find out just more in detail
(26:20):
who we are and what we do, it's a great website, very well put
together. And once again, if anybody were to come across someone that
is needing support services, knowing that they can reach our hotlines
and also our chat services as well. Yeah. And they're
247, so you don't have to worry about how long it's
gonna you have to wait for somebody to answer. Exactly. And, again, we're a
(26:43):
busy hotline, but we're trying to get to every call as quickly as possible. And
most importantly, I always like to mention that once again, it doesn't matter
what time of the day it is. It doesn't matter if someone can't sleep in
the middle of the night and just wants to talk to someone. We are here
to support them in any way that we can. What is the phone number
for the hotlines, like, for the sexual assault and other
(27:04):
hotlines that you have? Yeah. So our sexual assault hotline can be reached at
(713)
528-7273, and our
domestic violence hotline can be reached at (713)
528-2121. And where are you located
just in case they can't call you, but they wanna go knock on your door?
Yeah. So we are located near the NRG area.
(27:27):
One of the things that we have the opportunity now is to
really have presence to the public. Of course, the best way
to access our services is always through our hotline. It is the gateway of our
organization. That's how we can get connected. So even though, of
course, people are always welcome to come, we always suggest that they call
our hotline first just to make make sure that we are very well prepared
(27:49):
for them. So they can always reach us on our hotlines as we just mentioned.
And, of course, if you want to volunteer, become an advocate,
all they gotta do is go online and get all that information,
plus more. So, Celinda, thank you so much
for joining me today and for informing women
and families that there is a place that provides
(28:12):
help if they're experiencing any type of
abuse. And, I would also like to thank y'all as well
for joining me. Please send me your comments, or if you have any
story ideas, let me know.
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