A Voice for Hope

Our main goal in applying for this prize is to create a Safe Haven for women and children affected by domestic violence and abuse. We want to provide wrap around services to address their immediate safety and psychological needs while providing shelter and basic needs. We will also provide a career pathways that will allow them the opportunity to earn skills needed in the marketplace, to secure employment, and attain stable housing. We will ensure that these women and children have training in self esteem, self worth, and increase their confidence in themselves. Our Safe Haven will be more than a drop in shelter, but instead be a place where their lives can be transformed to one that they deserve to live and will be proud of. We plan to begin in the Southeast Texas region, but our long term goal is to have locations all across the United States. 

My name is Brenice Morciglio Lecea and I am the executive director for A Voice for Hope located in Southeast, Texas. We deal with victims/survivors of domestic violence and abuse in the Latin and underserved communities. I have been running A Voice for Hope for 3 1/2 years nonfunded. My passion with my survivors comes from my first hand experience. I am a SURVIVOR of domestic violence. In 2006, I buried a son due to domestic violence. I became homeless with my two daughters and lost hope in life itself.  My goal for the organization and the women I serve is to empower survivors of domestic violence through advocacy, education, and career pathways. With this funding our goal is to create a Safe Haven where survivors can regain the hope they have lost by providing programs, services, and resources to meet their immediate and long term needs.

Since the beginning of the Coronavirus Pandemic, there has been a spike in the number of domestic violence calls across the state of Texas. Similarly, there is a rise in domestic violence that are unreported and survivors are suffering in silence. In Orange Texas, there is no shelter for this population, and there is a lack of resources to address the needs of women and children facing violence and abuse. Our mission is to be a beacon of light for these women and create a place where they feel safe and secured. additionally, in the state of Texas, there are many Spanish speaking residents and this creates a barrier when seeking care and filing a police report and other legal documents. Our organization also provides interpretation and court advocacy to address these limitations. The need for our services is great, but the availability of services is fragmented. Our organization aims to be a one stop resource facility to address the needs of women and children who are facing what could possibly be the worst situation of this lives. We want to be a bright beacon of light and a Voice for Hope. 

In many cases, services are largely fragmented and survivors have to go to many different agencies to get their needs met. They deal with law enforcement by themselves who often do not address them from a therapeutic and strength bases perspective; this in itself can re-traumatizing. Additionally there are no shelters available so women and children going through this process often have to live with the perpetrator while trying to heal and rebuild their lives; this is often impossible. In many of these cases, the women rely on their perpetrators for basic needs an often do not have the financial stability to safely leave the bad situations; this may lead to manipulation and further abuse. Our organization plans to be the solution to each of those problems. We aim to provide all needed services under one roof, and educational and employment options that will foster independence and sustainable living. 

Humanity is lost when you are not treated humanely. We are addressing a dark stain in our society that needs to be eradicated. Domestic violence affects so many and the trauma extends way beyond just the survivor. It rips at the very fabric of who we are as humans. Our organization wants to be that beacon of light that can be seen from a distance and tells the survivor that you have a place here, you are enough, and you deserve better. We want to lift them up from their darkest place and realign them to the pathway for which they were destined. When they leave our doors we want them to be the best version of themselves. Healed internally, and thriving externally. We want to provide all needed services to meet their every need and set them on a path of success and fulfillment in their lives. The future of humanity depends on this mission. We are a Voice for Hope.