GET HELP
TAKE IT FROM US
It is not your fault
Emotional abuse IS abuse
It will only get worse
A brighter life IS possible
You are not alone
Thank you for reaching out to us. We are survivors of domestic abuse working out of a home office, doing what we can to make it easier for our sisters than it was for us when we were going through it.
We cannot help you find housing. We also are not crisis responders. If you have an emergency and need immediate help please call 911, and/or the 24/7 confidential Maine domestic abuse helpline which is 1-866-834-4357.
Here is some of what Finding Our Voices does do! If you are interested in this kind of help please fill out this Sister Support form and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Get Out Stay Out Fund: Mostly through referral we provide direct funding to providers to pay for items Maine victims of intimate partner abuse needed to get to safety and onto the path of rebuilding their lives. This includes payments for shelter and car, legal, home and personal security. Our funding is usually one-time assistance per family, and also is preferably through referral from partnering caseworkers and other partners.
Finding Our Smiles: A network of dentists across Maine are generously donating dental care to Maine women and child domestic abuse victims who do not have the money to pay for needed procedures. This includes both cosmetic and critical care. For this program we require that women have been out of their abusive situation for at least six months, and that they have reliable transportation and stable housing.
Legal help: Our program of donated legal help is new. We are able to provide names of some lawyers we recommend and possibly a free hour-long consultation.
Online Support Group: For more than three years, we have been meeting weekly online, Mondays at 6 p.m. for an hour in a safe, non-judgmental, and loving space. We are not professionals. Those facilitating the group are also survivors. This is a place to know you are not alone, recognize commonality, and support each other. Recent topics have included isolation, financial abuse, and physical health implications of emotional abuse. The group varies between 10 to 28 survivors show up. Some have been out of their abusive situations for more than a decade, some are still in it.
Sister Love: Every day we mail out gift packets to our sisters needing a boost. These include writing journals, books that were helpful to us in our own journeys, and our yellow power bracelet that can help give you the strength to push on.
There are domestic abuse resource agencies in every county in Maine under the umbrella of the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. They receive state and federal funding where Finding Our Voices does not, and have trained staff to help you safety-plan. The confidential 24/7 helpline is a good way to help process what you are going through.
1-866-834-4357. Here is a list of the regional agencies, including in your area.
Look at the toolkit of tactics that abusers — tinker, tailor, sailor — all seem to use to get and maintain control over someone they are claiming to love.
Click here to download, print and customize your own Power and Control wheel to help understand the abuse that YOU are going through or experienced. We are also happy to mail you a copy with an FOV-branded highlighter!
