I have had the privilege to work with NYC AVP professionally, and I have also referred friends of mine to them for services. I simply cannot say enough good things about this agency. They are true leaders and pioneers in the field of working with queer survivors of violence. I have worked with almost most of thier staff over 5 years, and every single one of them has been highly talented, professional and dedicated. And they also have a knack for collaborating with other agencies and communities for everyones benefit without stepping on toes. In addition to meeting the needs of NYC clients, they also facilitate at least 2 other networks of other service providers. Other similar agencies often bully thier way into other communities and take over, and/or impose themselves on them. NYC AVP is acutely aware of the needs of other communites: technical assistance and support, but not imposition. Again, I cannot say enough good things about this agency. I would hate to take them away from thier mission, but I wish they could teach other agencies how to do what they do!
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- EIN 13-3149200
- (212) 714-1184
- 116 Nassau Street New York NY 10038-2402 USA
- www.avp.org
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Civil Rights, Hot Lines & Crisis Intervention, Human Services, Mental Health, Suicide Prevention, Victims Services
Mission: The new york city gay and lesbian anti-violence project (avp) provides direct services, including a 24-hour hotline, counseling, advocacy and accompaniment, as well as support groups, legal services and a speaker's bureau, to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and hiv-affected victims of hate violence, sexual assault, stalking, and intimate partner violence. Avp also works with the communities we serve to respond to and prevent violence through organizing, public advocacy, policy work, training and education. Avp coordinates a statewide intimate partner violence network in new york state and a national coalition of anti-violence programs nationwide.
Programs: Direct client services: avp provides direct services to survivors of lgbtq and hiv-affected survivors of violence, including crisis intervention, safety planning, counseling, advocacy, economic empowerment services, as well as information and referrals to organizations and institutions that provide services and resources outside the scope of avps services. Avp operates a free bilingual, 24-hour, 365-day-a-year crisis intervention hotline that is staffed by trained volunteers and our professional counselors and advocates, and welcomes survivors at walk-in hours at all of our eight intake site across the five boroughs, including at all five new york family justice centers, as well as community-based organizations serving lgbtq and hiv-affected people. In fy2017, avp answered over 4,500 hotline calls, provided direct clinical and legal services to over 2,573 individual clients. By providing direct services in all five boroughs, we are able to lgbtq and hiv-affected survivors of all forms of violence who need our services where they live, work, and spend time, and we work with communities to address the issues specific to their neighborhoods. Avp also provides diverse group programming, including distinct support groups for survivors of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and intersecting forms of violence, as well as community-based drop-in groups for transgender and gender non-conforming people and those who support them. All support groups features a supportive and focused curriculum to move people from trauma to healing, and are culturally specific, designed for the unique needs and experiences of lgbtq and hiv-affected survivors of violence. The new york city gay and lesbian anti-violence project (avp) was able to add a second staff person to our economic empowerment team in our client services department. The previous economic empowerment specialist was promoted to a coordinator and a new specialist was hired to help us increase our programming. We also hired a campus sexual violence counselor and a housing counselor to provide assistance with survivors of violence in those specific areas.
community organizing and public advocacy: avps community organizing efforts reached more than 40,000 people in fiscal year 2017 with one-to-one handouts of information about violence facing lgbtq people and safer-sex materials throughout new yorks five boroughs. Avp organizes city-wide responds to specific violent incidents throughout new york city through our rapid incident response process, and creates campaigns through our that address lgbtq and hiv-affected peoples safety. In addition, avp collaborates closely with community leaders and community-based organizations to raise awareness about the intersection of lgbtq and hiv-affected identities and violence. This year, avp completed a two-year process of holding 5 citywide forums, one in each borough, bringing together transgender and gender nonconforming nc) people to identify strategies for addressing violence in the tgnc community. Avp has developed the community leadership institute, where survivors of violence and allies learn to engage in community organizing and public advocacy through skill-based curricula. One part of the community leadership institute, avps speakers bureau, allows clients and community members to share their stories to educate school and community groups and service provides about how to prevent violence, and what to do if they or someone they know is affected by violence against or within lgbtq and hiv-affected communities. This year, avp revised our speakers bureau curriculum to include a media training to prepare survivors for public speaking engagements. Each year, through its training and education institute, avp trains thousands of individuals and groups including community members, police, district attorneys offices, rape crisis centers, domestic violence agencies and other mainstream health and human service provides. Avp conducted 75 trainings reaching over 5,000 participants through our education and training institute. Avps training and education institute also serves as a clearinghouse for the most up-to-date information, studies, articles, and curricula on the issue of violence, and serves as a research resource for people across the country who are studying violence against or within lgbtq and hiv-affected communities.
legal services: beginning in 2013, avp launched a legal services program which provides free, holistic, direct legal services to underserved lgbtq and hiv-affected survivors of violence across all five boroughs of new york city. Services range from intake, advice, and representation on issues such as orders of protection, child support, child custody, legal separation/divorce, immigration matters, housing matters, name changes and representation as complaining witnesses in criminal court as clients need these services. Client referrals to the legal services department primarily come thorough avps client services department, as well as other community-based organizations. In fiscal year 2016, our legal services department provided full legal intake and consultation to 238 new clients, 95 cases were accepted for representation, representing 67 new clients. Additionally, 76 clients with 106 cases that were accepted for representation from fy 2016 were carried over into fy 2017.