Chicago Advocacy Network for Hope, or CAN Hope, will be a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary, co-located center that provides services to adult survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault as well as human trafficking. CAN Hope is inspired by the family justice center model, which provides the same kind of coordinated care as the CAC model for survivors of abuse, regardless of age, gender, or type of abuse. Of the 25 largest cities in the United States, 19 have opened a center where survivors and families can go to receive an array of services and support to promote their safety and well-being.
CAN Hope will be tailored to meet the unique needs of our city and involve staff from both public and private partner agencies who will work in one central location. This collaborative model seeks to alleviate many of the obstacles that hinder survivors, such as traveling to multiple locations to receive services and repeating their story to multiple agencies. A best practice in the field of domestic violence intervention, this model has documented outcomes including reduced homicides, increased safety, autonomy and empowerment for survivors, and reduced fear and anxiety for survivors and their children.
Located in a new facility on ChicagoCAC’s campus in the Illinois Medical District, CAN Hope will be the first domestic and sexual violence center of its kind in Chicago – a safe location where survivors have access to a network of immediate services, support, medical care, childcare, trauma-informed therapies, orders of protection, and access to legal and civil remedies in a single place, 24/7. As we enter our third decade of service to Chicago’s most vulnerable, having served over 50,000 children and their families, ChicagoCAC is uniquely positioned to lead the creation of a state-of-the-art response system for adult survivors of domestic and sexual violence in our city.
Interested in making an investment in this project?
Contact Nakia Kyler, Chief Development & Marketing Officer at nkyler@chicagocac.org or (312)-492-3728.
Want to learn more about this program?
Contact Jason Wynkoop, Chief Program Officer of Advocacy & Investigative Services at jwynkoop@chicagocac.org. or Colleen Montgomery, CAN Hope Program Director at cmontgomery@chicagocac.org.Â