24-hour Crisis Hotline 718-460-3800

Open around the clock, seven days a week, our bilingual hotline offers crisis counseling, safety planning, and emergency shelter placement to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or other personal crisis, at any hour of the day or night. It also provides information, referral, and advocacy.

Individual & Family Counseling

KAFSC's core program is counseling, available to all clients (women, men, children, and youth) and including crisis intervention, and counseling on a short-term or longer-term basis. Our models are individual one-on-one sessions or integrated sessions including other family members. Counselors help to addresses a variety of problems usually triggered by domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, or other personal or family crisis. They involve a broad range of factors including emotional distress, depression, isolation, conflict, fear and anger. In addition to domestic violence and abuse, issues frequently include divorce, parenting, discipline, inter-generational conflict, poverty, crime, addiction, and bereavement.

Legal and Social Service Advocacy

Domestic violence and sexual abuse survivors learn of their legal rights and options through free Legal Clinics and one-on-one consultations provided by attorneys from partner agencies such as Sanctuary for Families and Queens Legal Services. We provide other support including emergency cash and help to access health care and other public benefits, as well as court advocacy and interpretation for orders of protection, child custody, and other legal rights.

Women's Empowerment Group 

Women with Independence, Support and Hope (WISH) was launched in 2003 for domestic violence survivors to gain self-awareness, confidence and self-reliance. Today it is an art-based support group that includes women from the community at large. Through a variety of art therapy activities members learn self-expression, communication skills, stress release, conflict resolution, and self-care. They meet weekly for 12 weeks to share experiences in a creative, safe, non-judgmental environment. Staff provides guidance, encouragement, and resources.

Autobiography

Autobiography is a program designed for women over 21 years old that are experiencing tough times, emotionally and economically. Through the autobiographical process, women are able to harness their inner being, search for the meanings of life, and improve their self-esteem by writing down their experiences. By fostering this healthy process, the Autobiography Program promotes a happy and healthy mind, for the individual and their surrounding friends, family, and community. Facilitated by Dr. Sunhee Cho, RN at Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, there is a meeting once a week for 6 weeks, 3 to 4 times a year.

Sexual Assault Intervention

KAFSC is the only organization in our community to offer assistance specifically to sexual assault and rape victims. We provide crisis intervention, counseling, court advocacy and support services to women and girls who have been victimized. Like domestic violence, this issue cuts across all ages and socio-economic strata, and is slowly gaining some awareness in our community although it continues to require extensive education and outreach.

Self-Sufficiency Program

Job readiness skills are provided to clients to gain self-confidence, basic skills, and economic self-sufficiency. A critical skill is English language ability, which is taught by volunteers in class sessions as well as in individual tutorial sessions. From time to time we conduct workshops on financial literacy, clerical skills and basic computer skills. We also offer interviewing skills and job referrals for clients who are ready to seek employment.

Transitional Housing Program

We provide culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate long-term housing options for immigrant women who need to secure physical safety. We help them overcome many barriers and secure physical, emotional, and financial independence.

Information and Referral

We handle requests for various types of information beyond our own programs and services, such as immigration and naturalization, access to entitlements, health care, child care, elder care, housing, and how to navigate the complex systems of the city's public schools and social service agencies. We make referrals to bilingual attorneys, shelters, medical services, and other social services and, where necessary, provide assistance and interpretation.