Virginia Anti-Violence Project

Programs: Vavp holds space for community building work that includes [but is not limited to: facilitating queer healthy love classes, hosting monthly wellness events, planning annual retreats that are focused on healing and resilience, and working to support community members to engage/volunteer with vavp in a way that is not transactional, but rather honors the fact that queer and trans folx [particularly qtpoc], have been caring for and teaching each other all throughout history. Vavp wants to be a part of supporting that process of mutual aid/comfort and community accountability in a way that honors that deep history, but doesn't co-opt it. In 2017, vavp provided education related to healthy relationships/sexuality, resiliency, wellness, as well as diverse experience of abuse/violence to over 1600 individuals in diverse lgbtq+ communities around virginia.

vavp provides direct services to lgbtq+ individuals that have been impacted at any point in their life by any type of abuse, violence and/or harassment, including intimate partner and sexual violence, stalking, hate/bias motivated violence, and/or state sanctioned violence. That direct support can include [but is not limited to]: listening, validation, safety planning, emotional support, help filling out forms, accompaniment to different types of visits or appointments, connecting community members to other resources/support, emergency housing, talking through healthy/unhealthy relationships, licensed therapy, and exploring ways to take care of ourselves. In 2017, vavp provided direct advocacy and support to 88 lgbtq+ identified individuals that had been impacted by violence.

vavp also facilitates training/education for mainstream systems/organizations to increase overall community and systems capacity to provide welcoming and affirming services and support for lgbtq+ individuals that have been impacted by violence. In 2017, vavp facilitated trainings to 1700 participants that work in mainstream systems and organizations across virginia in order to increase their capacity to provide welcoming and affirming services to lgbtq+ individuals that have been impacted by violence.