Note: Occasionally we are re-running blog posts on topical subjects that you may have missed the first time around. Last week, the Tulsa World reported that DVIS (Domestic Violence Interventions Services) of Tulsa has been awarded a $426,335 grant from violence prevention funds that were part of the federal stimulus bill to assist clients with emergency needs. In June we ran this blog post about the important role of federal stimulus funds for domestic violence shelters facing increased demands for services from families in distress: Read the rest of this entry »

A recent piece in the Tulsa World by staff writer Michael Overall presented a moving look at the efforts of Tulsa’s two domestic violence shelters, Day Spring and Domestic Violence Intervention Services (DVIS), to cope with rising demands for services. Like many others in the social services sector, Day Spring and DVIS are facing the real, day-to-day effects of the declining economy. As  job losses mount and financial uncertainty builds, the impact is being felt in growing levels of household stress. This can have explosive and violent consequences. The article focuses on Grace, a thirty-something, college-educated woman “wearing trendy high heels and a business blazer” who has been at Day Springs since late March.

“I knew it was putting a lot of stress on him, a lot of pressure,” says Grace. “The pressure turned into anger, and the anger turned into…” Her voice trails off without finishing the sentence, but shelter personnel confirm that she suffered physical and psychological abuse.

Both Tulsa shelters are struggling with “an unprecedented surge” of women seeking services that began in January and is showing no signs of abating. The shelters are operating at full capacity; Overall notes that “(w)ith a record number of women coming to the shelter — and with most of them staying longer — the overcrowding seems likely to get worse.”

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