What should i give to a battered womans shelter?

Question

a group of us are sending gift bags to a local battered womans shelter. we are responsible for brining items in...what types of items should i put in it? hygene products are a good idea to start off....

these things are of course to be useful for them!

Answer 1

Clothes- children's (boys-girls), womens,
Furniture-Sheets,Utensils, Beds,Tables,Chairs
Books, Toys, Toiletries,
Electronics-Radios, Televisions.

I wouldn't give them too much personal help (apartment listings, legal help,jobs)without consulting the program director, because this may compromise their safety.

Answer 2

I have done a great deal of work with homeless shelters. What I recommend are hygiene products such as soap, shampoo, conditioner, feminine hygiene products such as pads and tampons. Socks, brushes, combs. Lotions, bus passes toothbrushed and paste. Just little things that you can buy at the dollar store that show that someone cares abou them. The shelter that I am associated with also has a food bank and you could ask if they require any food items for feeding those who use the resources. I think that this is a wonderful idea helping women out that have virtually nobody else. What is truly upsetting in this day and age is that their are women and children who are homeless. I think this speaks volume of a society that puts more value on war then on meeting the basic human needs of it's citizens.

Answer 3

I think that everyone so far has given really good answers, and the only thing I wanted to add is to ask the shelter what they currently need, because sometimes shelters have a really big shortage of something specific--for example, they could have enough shampoo because they got a recent donation, but still really need toys for the kids to play with. I think that getting a feel for the current needs of the shelter would be much appreciated by the women in the shelter and those running it, because you could then help to fulfill what they see as their most dire need.

Answer 4

hygene products, deoderant, nice soaps, chocalates, hair brushes, shampoos. A lot of these things get left behind when people are fleeing for their lives in a domestic violence situtaion or their is no money to buy them. Socks are also good, tissues. What would you like in a gift bag if you had to leave behind everything for your safety?

Answer 5

First of all, thank you for donating and spending time and energy to help out your local DV shelter. We can't do the work that we do with out support from the community.

One of the biggest needs for women in shelter are phone cards. A lot of shelters cover several counties and women may be coming in from out of town because of that, or because their offender knows where the shelter is in their town.

In order to keep in touch with a support system they left behind or family from out of town a phone card is VERY useful. Most shelters are always in a financial crunch and can't afford long distance phone calls of any length.

I often give women used cell phones to take with them when job hunting or going appointments. It is possible to dial 911 from any cell phone, whether connected to a network or not.

When talking hygeine products, we usually have plenty of shampoo and conditioner, but not mousse, gel, hairspray, curling irons etc. It is so nice when we can give new residents not only the basics but the stuff to style their hair as well. It has great self esteem value.

Sweat shirts and sweat pants are awesome to have. I always carry various sizes of sweats in my car for victims. I am on call pretty much 24/7, never know when I'm going to get called to the hospital. In cases of sexual assault every stitch of clothing that the victim is wearing is taken for forensic examination.

Notebooks and daily planners. A lot of the women I work with have not had the opportunity to keep track of their own lives for quite some time, so a daily planner is helpful to write down appointments and such. Notebooks are handy because so much of the time after a woman gets an order of protection the offender still tries to contact her and the police ask that they keep a notebook of these occurances.

Again, thank you for your generosity, we can't do it with out you!

Answer 6

I have heard of that happening before they consider men a threat and they don't like men there out of respect for all the other battered women who are there it's not you.Now I don't know what to say about the other men u saw there usually you don't see men in these kind of places.Sorry to hear about ur GF mom needing to be in there.

Answer 7

Obviously, the basic needs should be/can be covered. Toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, etc. I think it would be extra special to include something 'beautiful' or special. Many of these women escape battered homes with absolutely nothing. Maybe include a small perfume or even a pretty journal...the recipient probably doesn't feel very special right now.

Answer 8

Good reading material example: self-help books, continuing education material (at the high school, college and university levels), gift certificates at Walmart, etc.
Asking people for more recent but old computers they no longer use is good too. A lot of these ladies are starting over so the more they have to start with, the more likely it is that they won't feel tempted to go back to their ex-partners.

Answer 9

Just about everything that you can think of ... sheets, your old cribs (that are no longer used), towels, hygiene items, .... clothing for children, babies and women ...... even such a simple thing as HANGERS help tremendously (and laundry detergent/Fabric Softeners too).

THEN ... when these women are re-located for their safety or are headed to a NEW start in life ...

THINK about donating your OLD suitcases or duffel bags or other items like this because ... they DO need something to HOLD what they have received from the generosity of others.


Addendum:

To the Baba poster's comments:

HOW in the world can someone be that CALLOUS and insensitive to the plight of those who are LEAVING and FLEEING with JUST the clothes on their backs, those who HAVE to move or they (and their children) will be DEAD if they stay?

As someone that went through a short disaster of a marriage of my own .. I, PERSONALLY ... as the WAGE EARNER and the one supporting the family -- HAD to LEAVE EVERYTHING BEHIND ... including what MY DECEASED PARENTS LEFT me when they died more than a decade PRIOR to me entering and then leaving that sham of a marriage.

I AM Retired Military ... and yes, I've been shot at, stabbed, kicked, pummeled, beaten, assaulted/battered, etc. NOT all this happened during my Tours of Duty -- I would return EXHAUSTED from a deployment/TDY and then he would start in ... that is WHY I WALKED AWAY from EVERY THING that I WORKED HARD FOR!

I HAD to start over ... with NOTHING ... and that NOTHING was made worse when the I found out that the EX assumed MY IDENTITY and charged up a small fortune in debts ... which, coincidently ... that ex never lived up to paying ... and this was AFTER he was ORDERED in the Divorce Decree to PAY them!

After all this ... the MOST DANGEROUS TIME is WHEN one leaves .. and AFTER the Divorce is Finalized. One would think that moving all the time for duty would protect me (and the children) -- but NO, it does NOT!

I can attest to MANY Orders of Protection/Restraining Orders .. where the Ex would Stalk me (at times), disappear, reappear and steal my identity all over again, break into and burglarize MY HOME/Auto/Office ... He was CONVICTED of Assualting MY children (and still -- those stupid judges and those IRRESPONSIBLE "caseworkers" ALLOWED him unsupervised visitation -- and yes, HE DID BEAT them AGAIN! (and this is besides BURGLARIZING my home during the process), and ... now ..

almost a DECADE and HALF AFTER Divorce ... this same EX has once again BURGLARIZED MY HOME that I EARNED .. stole MY Property (that MY income provided), and yes, DAMAGED MY HOME in the process.

I LIVE today and breathe today because ...

I WAS NOT HOME at the time .. instead I was out and PAYING MY BILLS!

You see ... in the minds of ex-es like this ... somehow those of us who SURVIVE ... (this is the thoughts of the abusers here) "we (somehow) "OWE" them a Living ..."

AT LEAST I WORKED Every day of my life, and YES ... I've started over each and every time. I've had to EAT the cost of all these criminal activities .. and had to ENDURE Multiple times of testimony ... to only find out that he barely gets a slap on the wrist ... and then is let loose to go out and commit MORE of the same criminal actions at varying times (unpredictable -- so I have to constantly be on guard and prepared to move out).

I THANK GOD every day he gave me the ability to stand up and BE STRONG enough to KNOW That I CAN make it on my own ... and DO SO ...

So when I speak of the needs of those who SURVIVE and are in shelters .. it is the PERSONAL experience of a SURVIVOR ... and one who has had to BEAR everything that SHE has survived. I DID NOT go into the shelter .. because I HAD other options ... I did it on MY INCOME (there were so many others who were in GREATER Need than I was ... and they were the ones without the income or regular job that would provide them with the ability to EARN immediately what they and their children needed) -- the ones just starting down the path to INDEPENDENT LIVES.

Answer 10

Besides everything everyone else listed, used cell phones. I heard on TV that it's becoming quite a popular donation. We have a couple of old ones lying around that will be donated eventually. They still work, of course.

Answer 11

we always donate things that make them feel like women - bath salt, make up, body lotion, personal stuff. We also got huge praise for bus passes. $5.00 McDonalds gift cards, toothbrushes (plenty of dentists donate these a couple at a time). think of one material thing that you could not live without and there you go. Keep in mind these women have lost everything, including their self worth and value, and they need some warm fuzzies, things that make them feel good.