CHEZ HOPE INC

Non-Residential Services -Chez Hope serves four rural Parishes in South Louisiana (St. Mary, St. Martin, Iberia & Assumption). Each Parish has a full-time office open from 8 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday. All offices provide face-to-face crisis Counseling, Chez Hope has 2 Emergency Shelters, Crisis Intervention, Emergency Food and Supplies, Lethality Assessment, Safety Planning, Options Counseling, Legal Option counseling, Temporary Restraining Order assistance, Court Escort, Referrals, Emergency Transportation, Children’s in School Educational Prevention Programs, Children's Summer Camp, Children's After School Activities and Support Groups (women, men & children), Public Awareness Speaking Programs, Educational First Responder Training, Technology Facilitated Abuse Training,
Residential Services -Chez Hope has two shelters, one in St. Mary Parish and one in Iberia Parish. We have 14 apartments, and residents can live with us for up to 6 weeks. We are an immediate Danger Domestic Violence Shelter. When living in the shelter, we take care of all needs, provide food and personal care items weekly, and provide culturally specific requests. Transportation is provided for goal-related activities. Chez Hope seeks grant opportunities that will allow us to provide housing assistance through deposit, rent, utility assistance, assistance with securing furnishings, an initial stock of food and personal care supplies, and operational costs.
School Educational Programs- Chez Hope provides age-appropriate educational programs to schools addressing the topics of kindness, bullying, cyber safety, and dating violence.
Mobile Advocacy- Chez Hope allows victims to meet in locations away from our brick-and-mortar facilities. We have one mobile office unit per parish we serve. These mobile offices will contain everything needed to prepare and assist the victim in understanding their rights and protections when seeking Temporary Restraining Orders. Accompaniment to legal hearings, law enforcement meetings, and physical and emotional doctors’ appointments are just a few of the services we can expand upon while consistently offering the previously stated services. As the world evolves in this new and uncharted era, we are now experiencing the need to adapt services to victims of domestic violence. This has pushed us to think outside the box about ways we can help victims who are isolated, quarantined, or lack personal transportation in our rural underserved areas.
Rural Louisiana provides a particular challenge for most residents. Our Parishes are divided by multiple bodies of water (Bayous). Victims often must travel 30 minutes or more to access civil legal assistance and do not have public transportation to rely on.
The goal is to reach additional victims who do not have the means to travel to a physical location for services or may be cautious about compromising confidentiality and privacy when seeking services. All Domestic Violence Services are free of charge.
Chez Hope has 3 Umbrella Programs.
• St Mary and Iberia KKIDSS Centers (Keeping Kids in Domestic Situations Safe)- This program offers Supervised Visitation and Monitored exchanges while keeping the family unit safe and preventing altercations between parents or grandparents using the facility. All Visitation Center Services are free of charge.

• Batterer Intervention Program- A court-mandated proactive program designed to help abusers learn to make better choices and live lives free from violence. (This program is self-funded and receives zero financial support from Chez Hope.)
(follows the DELUTH model) There is a fee per week for this program.

• The TEAR Center- Technology Education Advocacy and Resource Center- This center focuses on technology abuse, awareness, and education. It provides specialized training classes to assist victims in understanding and identifying ways a perpetrator can use technology to find, track, and harass them. It also offers courses to educate them on the laws surrounding technology abuse. The center will also house a kiosk to assist with obtaining legal forms and legal matters and provide a safe, secure place for victims to meet with other service providers about the violence they have endured.
Chez Hope is the only Domestic Violence Program in the State of Louisiana to operate two noncommunal living Emergency Shelters, two safe Visitation/Exchange Centers, a Batterer Intervention Program, and the first of its kind in the State of Louisiana, Technology Education, Advocacy, and Resource Center.
These programs have been cultivated, developed, and implemented through years of collaboration with other Social Service organizations, Law Enforcement, Court personnel, and the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana.