Four women who were familiar with domestic violence and who were all board members for a battered women's crisis shelter founded The Second Step. Our philosophy and goals reflect their experience in dealing with and responding to the issues surrounding domestic violence in the 1980s. This group realized that a short stay in a crisis shelter was unlikely to help a woman break away from an abusive situation. What these women needed were programs to help them become financially independent and emotionally self-sufficient.
In 1991, the founders received a five-year HUD McKinney Supportive Housing Grant that let them begin the program in a Newton location. Additional funds were raised through other grants and donations. In 1995, TSS was awarded another Supportive Housing Grant to work with families and women after they completed the program or left before completing the program. Some of the money from this grant was also used by CAN-DO, Citizens for Supportive Housing in Newton, to help purchase a three-family house in Newton where three of our graduates can live for another two years. This residence, called The Louis Garfield House after a member of the board of CAN-DO, enables the families to remain in a stable situation and community for an additional period of time and have continued access to our staff.
As the program developed, staff members recognized that the children as well as the women had suffered traumatic events. In 1996, another Supportive Housing Grant let us offer an innovative therapeutic afterschool program for the children of our residents starting in September 1997. Staffed by two full-time teachers, the program provides academic enrichment, emotional support, and a chance to begin to heal from the abuse the children have witnessed and endured.
In 1998, The Second Step received the prestigious Audrey Nelson Community Development Achievement Award. This national award is one of six presented annually by the National Community Development foundation in recognition of exemplary service to families and neighborhoods.
As our program has flourished, we recognized that suburban women find themselves in situations where they feel controlled or abused, and many families in the local communities could benefit from some of the services we offer. The Second Step has taken the lead in developing a Family Nurturing Program in Newton. This fifteen-week course is based on the philosophy of nurturing the mother so she can better nurture her child. It is now offered to our residents and graduates as well as families referred by local agencies. In addition, we are expanding our Women's Resource Center to provide a place where women in the community can come to find resources to help them with legal, social, financial or housing problems or to find support from other women.
In 2000, recognizing that we turn away 75-100 families a year, the board of directors approved the purchase of an additional residence in Newton. Thanks to a successful capital campaign and the hard work of many dedicated individuals, the doors of the beautifully renovated new residence opened in 2002, doubling the capacity of the program. In 2006, TSS expanded its Community Program and launched IMAGINE, an innovative mentoring program that matches qualified volunteers with domestic violence survivors striving to achieve new goals. Since inception, we have served over 500 women and children in our Residential Program and over 1,350 women and children through our Community Program.
