YWCA North Central Indiana is the largest regional provider of domestic violence services including emergency shelter for women and children fleeing violence. The program includes individual and group counseling for victims and their children and is available for residents of our Safe Haven shelter in Elkhart or as a non-residential program.

Every two minutes someone in America is sexually assaulted. YWCA’s New Hope Program in Elkhart County offers individual and group counseling for victims of rape, sexual assault, incest, and childhood sexual abuse. Emergency shelter for recent victims of rape is available at the Safe Haven shelter in Elkhart, but the New Hope program can be a non-residential program as well.

YWCA’s Brighter Tomorrows program is an investment in the women in our community and is available to all adult women in Elkhart County. Our program includes education in financial literacy, job preparedness, and job retention. A key component of Brighter Tomorrows is the nationally recognized Bridges Out of Poverty Getting Ahead classes designed to move people out of generational poverty and into the world of employment and education. The Working Families program is a partnership with Elkhart DCS and SCAN. This program provides case management, childcare, and gas vouchers to newly (within the last 30 days) working families.

YWCA’s Prevention Specialists visits schools and community centers in Elkhart to educate students on how to prevent an abusive relationship and provide tools and resources to those in need.

YWCA helps victims of domestic violence and/or sexual assault navigate the legal system–filing protective orders and various other legal issues including assistance with divorce and custody proceedings. Our legal advocate can accompany women to court to help support them through the process. For more information about legal advocacy, call 574-294-1811.

All of the YWCA programs and services are available in Spanish. To speak to the bilingual advocate, call 574-294-1811.