“I lived at The Second Step for just over a year.  With the support of the residents and staff at the house I was able to accomplish things that I couldn't accomplish in the four years that I was married to my abuser.  I learned how to be disciplined and organized.  I learned how to multitask and follow the program guidelines, and at the same time I learned how to live my life on my own.”
— Sunita
TSS Graduate

Our Services

The Second Step offers a multitude of services and resources to empower survivors of domestic violence to heal from trauma, to forge relationships that create a community of support, to secure affordable housing, and to move toward financial security.

Transitional housing  
For those who need short-term, safe, supportive housing, our Transitional Housing Program provides communal housing for up to sixteen survivors and their children in two facilities in a suburban location where families can live for up to two years.  Read more»

Children’s services
Children who have witnessed the abuse of a parent suffer from much the same trauma as children who have been abused themselves. We seek to interrupt the intergenerational “cycle of abuse” by helping children of domestic violence survivors heal from the damaging effects of what they have experienced and witnessed. Our children's services include the following:  

Emergency Financial Resources
Our Liz Kirsch Opportunities Fund provides emergency financial aid for rental security deposits, school and licensing fees, car payments, or utility bills. Often this short-term, one-time funding is the crucial resource that enables a survivor to stay on a plan for independence.  Read more»

Mentoring
Our IMAGINE Mentoring Program pairs survivors with qualified volunteer role models who assist them in their journey toward achieving personal and professional goals in a supportive relationship.  Read more»

TSS Moves
Our TSS Moves Program assists survivors in establishing their new homes by pairing them with staff and volunteers who help them acquire furniture and household goods and do the physical move.  Read more»

Holiday Gift Drive
Our annual year-end gift drive engages members of the community, including local schools and clubs, in bringing holiday magic to families recovering from domestic violence by turning their holiday wish lists into reality.  Read more»

Individual advocacy
Our professional staff helps survivors develop individual, customized programs to reclaim their lives, regain their voices, and set goals for their future. Resources and services in a survivor’s plan may include safety planning, education, employment-related support, financial literacy, legal advocacy, housing stabilization, and links to therapeutic services and medical and dental care.

Education
Facilitating access to English-as-a-Second-Language classes, G.E.D. programs, post-secondary education, and targeted job-training programs is a major role of The Second Step staff. In order to expand choices in the future, the groundwork must be laid today.

Job and career counseling
Economic sustainability is fundamental to living a life free of domestic violence, since it enables people to have choices. The Second Step is committed to helping survivors develop the skills and self-confidence necessary to obtain jobs that are life-sustaining, with benefits and growth potential.

Financial literacy
Many families who come to The Second Step have never lived independently and need coaching to develop budgets, set up savings and checking accounts, clear credit histories, and make long-term financial plans. Experts are brought in from local financial institutions to provide both group instruction and individual planning. 

Life and parenting skills development
Survivors often must learn or relearn an array of skills that help them effectively navigate life’s daily challenges, including conflict resolution, relationship-building skills, parenting without a partner, and confidently asserting needs while being willing to compromise. Learning these life tools creates opportunities for parents and children to reestablish the their connection to one another and thereby helps interrupt the intergenerational cycle of violence.

Legal Advocacy
Our legal case manager, in collaboration with the Women's Bar Foundation, Greater Boston Legal Services, and other legal resources, assists survivors in accessing restraining orders, implementing divorce proceedings, securing child support, and mediating landlord/tenant issues, and accompanies them to court appearances. This advocate also informs The Second Step staff and board of directors about opportunities to shape legislation pertaining to the rights of those who experience domestic violence.

Permanent Housing Assistance
We help survivors find permanent, affordable housing by identifying homes, obtaining and completing housing applications, preparing a housing budget, and resolving poor credit (often ruined by an abuser).

Women’s Nurturing Group
Created to address the isolating dynamics of domestic violence, the Women’s Nurturing Group provides an opportunity for survivors to build lasting friendships, develop self-care strategies, learn new skills, and find emotional support.

Ongoing Contact and Support
The Second Step staff understands that survivors’ individual needs are met slowly over time.  A community case manager remains available to respond to questions, concerns, and needs once families have moved from the residences into their own permanent housing. Similarly, survivors in our community program are supported over time as needed. Often survivors of domestic violence return to us for many years for support, and we continue to welcome them. For many of these survivors and their children, The Second Step becomes a second family. The Second Step organizes two reunions a year to encourage peer networking. 
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News from The Second StepFebruary 14, 2013
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