Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services (ADWAS) is a non-profit agency providing Deaf and Deaf Blind victims of domestic violence and sexual assault with culturally specific services, in the greater Seattle and King County area.

Description:
ADWAS operates a 24 hour crisis line, offering crisis intervention. We also offer domestic violence and sexual assault case management services, counseling and support groups, safe shelter and transitional housing, legal and medical advocacy, parenting classes and children's services. ADWAS is an active member of the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, working with other agencies around the area to achieve the common goal of one day ending domestic violence.

History:
In 1981, a Deaf women was brutally murdered in Seattle by her Deaf husband. Members of the Deaf community were shocked but felt helpless. Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services (ADWAS) was founded in 1986 in response to the on going problem of domestic violence in the Deaf community. ADWAS was the first agency of it's kind to provide completely accessible support and advocacy services to ASL-Deaf and Deaf-Blind survivors and their families. As part of it's mission to break the cycle of violence, ADWAS offers educational workshops to the Deaf Community and to hearing people who work with Deaf clients. In 1998, in partnership with the Department of Justice, ADWAS developed a Training Institute to train people to set up similar agencies throughout the US and Canada. In the fall of 2006 ADWAS opened "A Place of Our Own" the first ever Transitional Housing and Support Facility for Deaf and Deaf-Blind Victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Contact person: Linda Goldman, Parent Program Coordinator, (email)
Office fax number: (206) 726-0017

Address:

8623 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle, WA 98115-3027 This location is handicap accessible (See a map)