Our Services

​Grace Smith House accepts requests for help regardless of a person's ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

​Crisis Intervention & High Risk Danger Assessment 
  • 24-hour crisis hotline to help victims assess their individual situation, assist in creating a safety plan for themselves and their children, and understand options available to them.
  • Risk assessments to help evaluate and understand the level of risk for a victim. Risk assessments can result in a referral to a team of professionals who can implement a cross-system approach to enhance victim safety and offender accountability depending on an individual's particular situation.
 
Counseling & Support Groups
  • Highly specialized individual and group counseling for victims of domestic violence.
  • Trained counselors facilitate groups for victims and survivors to help acknowledge their experiences of violence and learn non-violent methods of problem solving and communication.
 
Shelter & Transitional Housing
  • Grace Smith House currently operates a 25-bed, family-style secure shelter for individuals and their children. Our shelter, the Mary Lou Heissenbuttel Residence (MLHR), is staffed and open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Assistance with meals, transportation, employment, housing, and counseling services is provided.
  • Our housing complex, Brookhaven Apartments, is home to approximately 15 adults and 25 children who are transitioning from a short-term shelter stay to an independent living environment. Intensive emotional support and advocacy is provided on site. All families living at Brookhaven take part in our non-residential program.

​Advocacy & Legal Services
  • Accompaniment and guidance with police, courts, social services, employment, housing and other resources.
  • Assistance in obtaining free legal representation in court for child custody matters, orders of protection and in divorce proceedings.
  • Family court liaisons: Two trained liaisons (one Spanish-speaking) to help complete petitions and understand the process.
  • Legislative advocacy: We work closely with state legislators to create and support laws that protect victims and increase safety.
 
Latina Outreach
  • Spanish-speaking advocacy and counseling.
  • Assistance with the unique issues facing the Latina community.
 
Children & Youth
  • Children’s programs: A trauma-informed approach to serving children who have been exposed to family violence. Programs take place in our shelter and in our community programs.  
  • Child Protective Services liaisons: Two skilled liaisons located at Child Protective Services offer support to victims of domestic violence who are involved with CPS. The liaisons also provide training and support to CPS workers.
  • Youth education and prevention programs: School-based programs focus on bullying and relationship violence prevention and intervention.