The Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County, Inc. (DAP)seeks to prevent domestic violence and is committed to providing services that meet the needs of victims. The Domestic Abuse Project supports an empowerment process, which enables victims to move towards self-sufficiency.

Description:
DAP provides 24-hour hotline telephone counseling, information and emergency assistance to victims. We also assist victims seeking legal protection and provide accompaniment to criminal and civil courts. DAP provides referrals to legal, therapeutic and community resources. DAP runs support groups for battered women and women in the process of separation or divorce. DAP is involved in the community providing educational services, including speeches to community groups on request and workshops with public and private agencies in the county.

History:
In April 1975, Delaware County Women in Transition (DCWIT) was established to provide support, information and referrals to women in Delaware County who were facing separation, divorce, and domestic crisis. This project was sponsored by the Women's Action Coalition of Delaware County, Inc., an organization formed by women in 1972 to further women's rights in Delaware County.

In the fall of 1975, a woman died from a brutal beating by her husband, leaving six children. At the request of her attorney, Carol Robinson, Esq. of the Delaware County Legal Assistance Association (DCLAA), DCWIT's all volunteer staff joined with representatives of DCLAA to begin addressing the problems of battered women in this county. The task force members included Carol Robinson, Elaine Humme, Jeanne Smith, Susan J. Cherner, Esq., Delores Wilson, Linda Shaw, Dot Wheat, and Jody Gitten.

With the assistance of Joyce Dale, Director of De. Co. Women Against Rape and Professor Sue Henry, University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work, five members of the Task Force wrote a successful proposal for funding to the PA's Governor's Justice Commission. With a grant of $20,000, the Marital Abuse Project of De. Co. was officially born in September, 1976. Three part-time staff, and ten volunteers opened a 24-hour hotline in November of 1976 and began providing assistance to victims of domestic abuse, as well as women in marital crisis. During that first year, 748 women and two men were served.

During the fall of 1976, Larry Moss, Esq., of Legal Services in Philadelphia introduced legislation to provide protection for abused women. At hearings for the Protection From Abuse Act (Act 218), Elaine Humme met other women working to assist domestic violence victims from Harrisburg, Lancaster, and Philadelphia. Jointly, they decided to gather other people concerned about domestic violence from across the state for mutual support, sharing and development of strategies for fighting domestic violence and providing quality services to victims statewide. The first official meeting of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) was held in November, 1976 in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania with 50 women attending.

In January 1978, the Project incorporated as a separate, non-profit, community-based organization under the name of the Marital Abuse Project of Delaware County, Inc. (MAP). That same winter, MAP joined hundreds of domestic violence programs from across the nation to attend "Battered Women:Issues of Public Policy," a consultation sponsored by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in Washington, D.C. MAP actively participated in the structure of a national network of programs for battered women called the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV).

In June 1980, the Board of Directors voted to change to name of MAP to the Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County, Inc. (DAP).

Contact person: Bonnie Steenhuis, Volunteer Coordinator, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: 610-565-9911

Address:

14 West 2nd Street Media, PA 19063 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.dapdc.org

Directions:

Directions from 476 - Take Exit 3(Media/Swarthmore)and proceed south on Baltimore Pike into Media. Turn right onto Jackson Street and left onto 2nd Street. For maps or information, please see http://www.septa.com/

Miscellaneous Information

Are court referrals welcomed?
	No