Changes to our normal life routines, health concerns, sheltering in place directives and economic challenges are all stressful occurrences for most people.  However, they are of even greater concern for those individuals living with an abusive person and as our historical data has shown, these added stressors usually lead to an increase in domestic abuse and family violence events.

As such, we thought it important to know that Iris Domestic Violence Center is staying true to its mission and will remain fully operational and provide trauma informed care and acute victim services to qualified individuals as a result of domestic abuse or family violence.

Iris is following and complying with the latest directives from federal, state and local levels and will continue to do so throughout this crisis.    While we will continue to provide services to those in need, we will also take all necessary precautions to protect our staff, our volunteers and the individuals that we serve and keep them safe.

Presently, we are announcing the following for the next 30 days or until April 15, 2020:

• We will not be accepting in-kind donations directly from the public;
• We are postponing all currently scheduled community outreach activities and will not be scheduling them going forward in compliance with social distancing practices and self-quarantine policies;
• We are cancelling all regular meetings of support groups or group counselling sessions.
• We will not be holding pretrial conferences with clients in person.  Please call and ask to speak to the legal department about your case.  

However, Iris Domestic Violence Center remains open, continues to shelter qualified victims of domestic abuse and is working 24/7 for those in need.  If you need help or assistance at this time as a result of domestic abuse or family violence, please contact Iris Domestic Violence Center at our crisis phone line number (225) 389-3001.

At this time, we cannot be sure how long these practices will be suspended, modified or altered, but Iris will continue to provide updates on our status to ensure that people remain informed going forward.  Please look for any updates on our website (www.stopdv.org) or visit Iris on Facebook.  

Our staff will continue to monitor the situation and to respect the directives of our governmental leaders.  We remain committed to ensuring that those individual in need of help and assistance due to domestic abuse and family violence are able to access the needed help and assistance to address those concerns and remain safe.  Iris is just a phone call away.

It is our fervent wish that everyone remains safe.  Both the Iris staff and our Board of Directors join in thanking our elected leaders, our front-line medical responders, law enforcement and our collaborative agency partners for their action, dedication and courage at this challenging time.

Please stay safe and encourage others to do so.  Thank you for your support.

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