Who We Are

Sisters Of Christ, Inc is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, incorporated under the State of Missouri statutes.  Our mission is to support, educate, inform and to advocate for the advancement of services that achieve safe and secure environments and social equality for women, children and families that are victims of abuse, residing in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. Our program operates year-round and we plan to provide services, at no-cost to participants, Monday-Friday from 5-8 pm and on Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm.  As funds become available we plan to offer shelter to women, children and families that have no place to go
and get away from their abusive environments.

All of our trainings/seminars/workshops/forums will be facilitated by educated skilled professionals with accountable experience and knowledge of the subject matter. Supervision of all forums and sessions will be conducted by experienced staff. Program
participants will be accepted via referrals from social service agencies, courts, outreach, schools and self-enrollment. At the outset, we will serve 50-150 participants overall. These participants will be offered; one-on-one counseling; peer-group counseling;
small-group (10-12 participants per session); and large-group counseling (12-16 participants per session). Actual participation will be based on population needs, outreach efforts and participating feeder agencies.

Goals of Sisters Of Christ, Inc follow:

Provide support services to women and children abuse victim;

Increase victims knowledge about services and resources

Increase victims self-esteem

Increase victims confidence

Increase victims capacities to strengthen family ties

Increase victim love, trust and faith in self

Increase self-sufficiency of participants

Reintegrate empowered victims into safe and secure environs.

It is the belief of Sisters Of Christ, Inc staff that we can achieve the aforementioned goals through the implementation of the project presented here. Overall, the project is a six-month (360 hour) intensive program. We will target 50-150 women, children and families that are abuse victims or that are at-risk of becoming victims of abuse. Groups of 10-12 participants will attend 12-weeks of three-hour sessions Monday thru Friday, between 5-8 pm.  Our staff will work with participants on-site at schools, churches and other institutions.  Each activity will be facilitated by trained, certified, qualified experts (in the respective fields) that have years of successful experience in working with our specific populations.

It is imperative to success that Sisters Of Christ, Inc takes a proactive strategy in promoting its program in the community as well as creating a strong fund-raising program. To accomplish our goals, Sisters Of Christ, Inc will have two groups overseeing the program’s growth and development. The first will be a 4-member Program Services Group comprised of community residents. This group will provide oversight of the program’s service delivery to the community and will also be responsible for building community support for Health Heroes.  The second group will be a 3-member Finance Group that will have Saint Louis Metropolitan business representation. The Finance Group will have oversight of the program’s fiscal operation and fund-raising activities. Sisters Of Christ, Inc will organize, plan and conduct all fundraising activities and events in collaboration with the Program Service Group and the Finance Group.  We will write grants and seek contracts for funding and services from federal, state, local, private and public sectors in order to achieve program success.

This program furthers Sisters Of Christ, Inc tax exempt purposes by providing support, information, education, training, knowledge, tools and skills for women, children and family abuse victims to become equipped to make informed decisions in dealing with abuse. More importantly, the program will provide safe and secure environs that women, children and families may become enlightened, independent and empowered while decreasing: the numbers of abuse; degrees of violence against women, children and families; and the numbers of murders.

Child Abuse

      Child Abuse is an international problem. It is sad how many people know of a child that is being or has been abused, and they say and or do nothing about it. I do not understand what would cause a person to keep this information to themselves. Reporting child abuse could save a child’s life and or prevent them from getting harmed again.

Many of the child abuse cases that have appeared recently in the media have been perpetrated by mothers that have been victims of abuse themselves.  Hence, it is reasonable to suggest that identification of women that have been victims of abuse will aid and assist in the intervention and prevention of child abuse.

In order to effectively address child abuse we must gather as much information as possible about the parents and their backgrounds.  According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) the majority of child abusers were abused as children themselves.  Thus, Sisters Of Christ has embarked upon this mission of identifying women that have been victims of abuse in hopes of having an impact on child abuse through intervention and prevention measures.  Child abuse is a form of violence that directly results from domestic abuse.

The four major forms of child abuse/maltreatment are

1. Physical abuse: The intentional infliction of pain and injury on a child through physical violence.
2. Emotional abuse: The use of continuous verbal criticism and attacks and/or the withholding of affection.
3. Sexual Abuse: All forms of sexual contact with or exploitation of children,         including exhibition and involvement in pornography, inappropriate touching,              and sexual intercourse
4. Neglect: Failure to provide adequate food, shelter, medical care, supervision or anything else the child may need for proper health and growth.

(Source: Nevid 2003, Abnormal Psychology in a Changing World, p.519)

Domestic Violence

      Domestic violence is abuse committed by a spouse, a former spouse, a fiancé, a boyfriend or girlfriend, and/or a cohabitant upon another individual. It is estimated that a domestic violence act occurs every 15 seconds somewhere in the United States. That figure translates to over 2.5 million victims per year. This abuse affects the lives of the victim and the children who live within the boundaries of these abusive relationships.  One in ten calls made to alert police of domestic violence is placed by a child in the home.  More than 53 percent of male abusers beat their children. One of every three abused children becomes an adult abuser or victim. Victims and abusers are found in every social and economic class, race, religious group, and sexual orientation.  Factors such as poverty, single-parent households headed by women, and parents with less than a high school education were found to be more common demographics among families suffering abuse.

Over 2.5 million females experience some form of violence each year. Almost two of every three of these females are attacked by a relative or person known to them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found in a national survey that 34 percent of adults in the United States had witnessed a man beating his wife or girlfriend, and that 14 percent of women report that they have experienced violence from a husband or boyfriend.  More than 1 million women seek medical assistance each year for injuries caused by battering.  Over twice as many women are killed by their husbands or boyfriends than are murdered by strangers. (Arthur Kellerman. “Men, Women and Murder.” The Journal of Trauma. July 17, 1992, pp.1-5).  In 1992, the American Medical Association reported that as many as 1 in 3 women will be assaulted by a domestic partner in her lifetime — 4 million in any given year. (“When Violence Hits Home.” Time. June 4, 1994).

Among all female murder victims in 1992, approximately 29% were slain by boyfriends or husbands; four percent of male victims were slain by their wives or girlfriends. (Federal Bureau of  Investigations, 1993).  The average prison sentence of men who kill their women partners is 2 to 6 years. Women who kill their partners are, on average, sentenced to 15 years. (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1989) In 2001, approximately 8,045 women in the United States died as a result of homicide.  Six in every 10 women who are victims of homicide were murdered by someone they knew. About half of these women were murdered by a spouse or someone with whom they had been intimate. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15-44. Every 21 days, a woman is killed by domestic violence. Children are involved in 60 percent of domestic violence cases. More than three million children witness acts of domestic violence each year.

The United States Public Health Service treats violence as a health issue and consequently, uses injuries, fatal and non-fatal, physical and psychological, to quantity the impact of violence. Children who witness violence at home display emotional and behavioral disturbances as diverse as withdrawal, low self-esteem, nightmares, self-blame and aggression against peers, family members and property.  Over 3 million children are at risk to exposure to parental violence each year.  Clearly, there is a dire need for programs that focus on abuse of women, children and families, not only in the St. Louis Metropolitan area, but across the United States as well.