Neopolitan Lighthouse’s 25-bed domestic violence shelter offers services to women and children fleeing from abusive relationships 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. To ensure the safety of our clients, Neopolitan Lighthouse’s shelter facility is housed at a confidential location. The shelter offers comfortable accommodations for women and children in a communal atmosphere. Clients are able to stay at the shelter facility for up to 180 days while they work towards obtaining stable income and housing. During this time, shelter residents are provided with an array of services which include individual and group counseling, case management, advocacy, and Illinois Domestic Violence Act legal advocacy. The shelter facility affords its residents a safe and supportive environment where they can begin to regain control over their lives.
If you or someone you know is in need of shelter, please do not hesitate to call our 24-hour crisis line at (773) 722-0005 for more information. If you do not reside in the Chicago area, you may call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 to locate a domestic violence shelter and/or program near you.
Shelter Services
Counseling:
Neopolitan Lighthouse offers emotional support, as well as individual and group counseling to abused women and children residing at the shelter. Support groups include discussions on the dynamics of domestic violence, maintaining safe and healthy relationships, positive parenting skills, and IDVA advocacy issues.
The support group format encourages survivors to discuss their experiences in a supportive environment while at the same time offering that support to other women through their experiences. Many residents participating in our support groups have had very different experiences and may be at different stages in their relationships and in the healing process. This is also an opportunity for survivors to ask questions of other survivors and for counselors to aid in minimizing feelings of isolation and blame as often experienced by survivors of abuse.
Client support staff and case managers also conduct individual counseling sessions where residents can speak confidentially with a client support staff member and personalize their sessions to meet their own needs and goals.
Neopolitan Lighthouse staff recognize the importance of counseling and encourage women and children to begin identifying the feelings associated with the violence they have experienced. If necessary, counselors are also available to assist women and children to locate more long-term counseling and therapy options.
Case Management:
Within the first 48 hours of entering Neopolitan Lighthouse’s shelter facility, each resident is assigned and will meet with a case manager. Each woman will sit down with her case manager and discuss and identify her individual needs and goals in order to achieve independent living after leaving the shelter. The case manager meets with each resident on a weekly basis to discuss options for meeting those goals. Case managers assist residents with locating resources for housing, childcare, and financial assistance. The specific services given to each client are determined by an assessment of the client and family’s needs as well as the client’s specific wishes.
Legal Advocacy:
Neopolitan Lighthouse understands that a vital part of a survivor’s recovery process includes ensuring her and her children’s physical safety and well-being. The agency’s legal advocate meets with every woman upon her entry into the shelter. The advocate discusses with each client her legal rights under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 and her legal options, including obtaining an order of protection. Legal groups are held twice a week with the women in the shelter to discuss the legal issues pertaining to domestic violence. The legal advocate is also available to accompany women to both civil and criminal court to provide assistance and emotional support when filing for orders of protection. The legal advocate can also assist and provide referrals for divorce and child support cases. Often it is difficult for women to face their abusers in court, and the judicial process is sometimes intimidating. The legal advocate is there to answer any questions that the survivor may have about domestic violence and her legal recourse.