The Max Stutman Safe Dwelling Program 

Free of Charge Services
Providing safety, comfort, direction, healing, and hope.

The most difficult step is acknowledging that there may be a serious problem at hand. It may be a family member, a friend, a neighbor, or the victim herself who finally decides to seek help. For more than 12 years, OHEL Preventive Care has served hundreds of courageous women, helping victims of domestic violence rebuild their lives.

Our OHEL Services are confidential and include:

-Confidential phone consultations
-Safety planning and personal guidance
-Counseling sessions
-Empowerment through appropriate dissemination of information and exploring all realistic options.
-Support groups

Counseling
OHEL provides a comprehensive service to victims of domestic violence. When appropriate and safe, services can include counseling to both the victim and her spouse. No fees are charged. Each individual’s needs are unique. Therefore, it is important to recognize that there is no single answer to the range of situations. Counselors who are specialists in the field of domestic violence assist each woman in clarifying her needs based on her current situations.

The Safe Dwelling Program
OHEL has several Max Stutman Safe Dwelling Programs throughout New York. Here we offer kosher accommodations for a woman and her children. Addresses are confidential. Apartments are attractive, fully furnished, and have all the amenities of a private home.

Families are provided with:

-Complete package of new household items that they keep at the end of the stay.
-School supplies, toys, arts & crafts, etc.

By providing a secure, abuse-free home environment, together with caring and professional support, women struggling with serious marital/relational issues have been able to rebuild their lives and families so that they and their children can thrive. In some cases, where the husband has been a cooperative partner, marriages have been saved.

For confidential information about services, we encourage your inquiry at 1-800-603-OHEL or access@ohelfamily.org

Who Do We See At OHEL? 
We see mother, teachers, professionals – but all are women who feel broken inside. At OHEL, we help re-build their lives.

Many such victims question their own integrity as often women of faith, as good wives, as mothers and finally as individuals deserving of a right to have and make choices about their own lives.

Often, victims are told by well-meaning individuals, be it community leaders or family members or friends, that leaving is not the answer. They are told that positive change lies within them and not their respective spouses. They are told they must simply try harder. They must show their spouse that their wives believe in them respects them and love them. These women are told of “The shame of divorce, taking away the only father the children have, etc is unfair to all.”

All this weighs heavily on these women and simply keeps them in a constant state of paralysis. For many women, it is a death sentence in more ways than one.

The following are just some of the questions that plague so many victims on a daily basis while they waiver back and forth as to which way is worse or better:

*Better to stay for the children’s sake?
*Or, better to leave for the children’s sake?
*Why can’t he see I try so hard?
*Why must he make it so difficult?
*How can I hurt my family?
*How will my siblings get to make the right shidduchim?
*How can my parents support me?
*Will he use the fact that I take anti-depressants against me?
*Will Bais Din give him the children, or the boys?
*He knows the right people and he comes from a “chsouva family”.
*Who will believe me about what goes on behind closed doors?
*But, how can I go on this way, I know in my heart I can’t!

These are just some of the issues that are dealt with in therapy. Our roles as therapists is to help the woman feel safe, give her hope and help her heal from this very painful trauma that she has experienced much of her married life.

At OHEL, we have found that every woman who has allowed herself to connect with our trained therapists has improved her outlook on herself, her life and has been in a better position to feel empowered to make some important decisions about her life and those of her children.

No One Case Is The Same
No one case is the same; no one set of problem-solving approaches work for every woman the same. We help each victim with their individual story and individual needs. This is really the second part of her healing process. She is beginning her recovery phase. 

The final phase of treatment is hope for a better future, whatever that entails. It may mean at times, reconciliation. At times, it may mean leaving permanently, but in a better state of mind and with assistance from a variety of areas, with communal assistance, government assistance and reconnecting with family and friends.

Free of Charge
All OHEL services are free of charge. Those women who do not wish to be admitted to our temporary apartments can still seek free and confidential counseling services with one of our experts in domestic abuse.

We hope more women can come forward to tell their story, share their pain and allow for hope and healing, all in a highly confidential setting. Please call us at 1800-603-OHEL or email access@ohelfamily.org