Without the help of Compañeras, a program run by the Domestic Violence Intervention Program (VIP) in the Bronx, Rosa (not her real name), a 47-year-old Honduran immigrant, said that she would not have been able to leave the husband that tried to kill her twice.
"I'm filled with gratitude, because he killed the woman he was with after me and now he's in prison," said Rosa, and explained that thanks to the therapy she has received through the program, she has been able to move on. "I don't want these programs to shut down because they are very important, mainly for us women who don't have family in this country," she added.
But Rosa is one of only 200 Hispanic women a month who receive counseling through the Compañeras program. As a result of the cuts in the recently approved state budget, they could lose that support at any moment.
Cecilia Gastón, executive director at VIP, explained that the Compañeras program is the only one in the Bronx that offers Spanish-language services. It needs $365,000 a year to operate, and the new budget has only designated $510,000 for non-residential domestic violence programs in the entire state of New York.
"If the city and the state don't do their part, we won't receive federal funding either. And without those three sources of funding, we can't function," said Gastón.
The services that organizations like VIP offer are needed more than ever. According to the Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence, 75 homicides in 2010 were the result of domestic violence, 13 more than in 2009.
The National Network to End Domestic Violence revealed that in 2010, 85 percent of the programs that provide support services in New York State reported a higher demand, while simultaneously, 75 percent reported a decrease in funding.
Gastón explained that Casa Sandra, another VIP program that provides housing to 15 families that have suffered from domestic violence, could also be affected. The state has already cut funding to the Advantage program, which helps the women in Casa Sandra to pay their rent.
"I now have a building full of families that survived domestic violence and they have nowhere to go. What am I going to do, throw them out in the street?"
Gastón said that her only hope is to raise awareness among local authorities, and to do that she is going to raise the issue with all of the City Council members.
