March 14, 2022 – The Rotary Club of Anaheim was honored to have Ms. Elia Renteria, Director of Community Engagement, and Alycia Capone, Chief Advancement Officer, for the Women’s Transitional Living Center (WTLC), as a guest speaker at the club.
Women’s Transitional Living Center, Inc. (WTLC) was founded in 1976 as the result of a needs assessment study of battered women in Orange County, conducted by the National Organization for Women’s Task Force on Family Violence. Originally created to meet the extraordinary need for shelter services for survivors of domestic violence, WTLC quickly expanded to providing a comprehensive residential program, a children’s program, a crisis hotline, and a community services program. From the beginning, WTLC was committed to service all victims of violence including women struggling with substance abuse or mental illness and survivors with older male children.
WTLC is the oldest domestic violence program in Orange County and the third oldest in the nation. With a vision of ending the cycle of violence and exploitation, our mission is to help individuals and families escape the depths of domestic violence and exploitation. To do so, WTLC provides the tools and resources to build self-esteem and empower people for independent living.
WTLC utilizes a three-pronged approach: Shelter, Supportive Services, and Community Education & Advocacy. Through our prevention and interventions services, WTLC touches lives of thousands of survivors and their children annually.
WTLC is committed to serving all survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking, including women, men, and families. We accept populations that would normally struggle to find help including re-entry victims coming out of the prison system, victims with ongoing mental illness problems, victims struggling with alcohol and drug addiction, transgender victims, and emancipated youth. These populations are particularly vulnerable and sadly, no other domestic violence shelter in Orange County will accept these populations.
WTLC strives to end the cycle of violence by working with survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking, their families and the community by providing multiple intervention and prevention services on a continuum. Derived from a holistic approach, WTLC’s programs are rooted in survivor driven and trauma informed practices. Survivor-driven, considered a best practice by the National Network to End Domestic Violence, means the survivor’s priorities create the safety and healing plan, and can include family members as well as the person who abused them. Trauma-informed, considered a best practice by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), speaks to understanding the effects of trauma on a person from a physical, emotional, and psychological framework.
Bridge Housing
WTLC’s Bridge Housing Program provides immediate to long-term housing solutions that are inclusive and trauma-informed to survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. Survivors who reside in our Bridge Housing Program have access to laundry, additional clothes, food, financial assistance, hygiene essentials, referrals to community resources, as well as an individual case manager who works with the survivor to create their own individualized service plan and plan of care, which highlights the survivor’s personal goals and viable steps to attaining these goals.
Housing Services Include:
– Safety Net Motel
– Immediate on-site housing
– Transitional Housing
– Key Housing First Program
Supportive Services
WTLC’s supportive services are mobile, available to survivors in our Bridge Housing Program or survivors in the community. Moving their programs beyond their walls has ensured survivors are able to receive the care they need to build a safer and brighter future for themselves and their family.
WTLC’s services include:
– Clinical: Individual, family, and group counseling for children and adult, Play Therapy and Therapeutic Art workshops, and on-site Psychiatric services twice a month for uninsured participants
– Educational and Skill Building: Parenting, Financial Literacy, Personal Empowerment classes
– Family Engagement: Movie Nights, Game Nights, Art workshops
– Legal: Family law, Protective Orders, Court Accompaniment, Immigration Relief Services, Referrals to affordable legal representation
– Peer Support Groups: Human Trafficking, PTSD, and Relapse Prevention
– Holistic: Yoga and Meditation
– Resources and referrals
Prevention Education and Advocacy
The Prevention Education, and Advocacy Program is designed to fulfill WTLC’s vision of ending the cycle of violence and exploitation. By providing intervention and prevention educational activities, reframing programs to support vulnerable populations, and working with communities to promote safer and healthier environments.
Services Include:
– Domestic Violence Counselor State Certified Training
– Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking Awareness Campaigns
– Elder and Dependent Adult, Human Trafficking, LGBTQIA, Youth and Young Adults
– Presentations and Healthy Relationships/Empowerment Workshop Series
– Supervised Visitation
For more information:
Call the 24/7 Bilingual Helpline 1-877-531-5522
Email them at info@wtlc.org
For non-urgent help or questions about domestic violence and human trafficking, send a confidential email or text to love@wtlc.org
Call the Confidential Hotline 714-480-6580 to report a Hate Crime or Incident
The Child Abuse Prevention Hotline is 800-207-4464 and locally 714-940-1000
