ALIVE’s Mission

ALIVE’s Vision

ALIVE’s vision is to end domestic abuse, restoring safety and peace one family at a time.

ALIVE’s History

ALIVE (Alternatives to Living in Violent Environments) was founded in 1983 through the shared vision of two women with graduate degrees from Washington University who worked as advocates for abused women. Aware of the critical need for safe shelter for women and children victimized by domestic violence in St. Louis, they decided to fill the existing void in services. ALIVE’s humble beginnings took place in two rooms donated by a local church. Two volunteer co-directors conducted ALIVE’s initial efforts, and six safe home providers shared their homes with abused women and their children when safe shelter options were unavailable. In addition to offering the temporary shelter program, ALIVE hosted four weekly support groups.

ALIVE was incorporated in 1985 and over the years has expanded into a full-service domestic violence prevention agency. Our Nights of Safety program remains true to our founders’ original vision of providing emergency sanctuary when all domestic violence shelter beds are full. ALIVE’s additional services include:

• a 24-hour crisis line.
• emergency transportation.
• individual and group adult counseling.
• a children’s treatment program.
• court advocacy.
• community education and outreach.

ALIVE’s staff has grown to a team of nearly 40 professionals staffing our two offices, one in the St. Louis area and the other in Franklin County. The operational volunteer corps that started with eight women now numbers over 100 strong.

ALIVE’s Statistics

During Fiscal Year 2019/2020 ALIVE provided services to adults and children by:

• answering 18,429 calls to ALIVE’s 24-hour crisis line.
• furnishing emergency shelter for 576 domestic violence survivors and their 618 children, totaling 6,666 Nights of Safety.
• assisting 436 clients with court actions and 315 information sessions.
• providing 4,591 hours of individual adult counseling services to 442 clients.
• providing 1,357 hours of children’s services to 147 children and parents.
• educating the community through 113 presentations to over 4,400 individuals.

We accomplished all of this with the help of our dedicated volunteers, who provided over 11,500 hours of volunteer service!

Local & State Statistics

According to the Missouri Highway Patrol Uniform Crime Reporting Program, during 2018 police responded to nearly 10,000 domestic violence calls in ALIVE’s primary service area.* These figures represent only those crimes reported as domestic violence. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that more than 40% of all domestic violence is unreported.

*St, Louis City and the Missouri Counties of St. Louis, Franklin, Jefferson, and St. Charles

According to the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence:

• In the St. Louis area, 2,271 individuals received residential services and 7,622 received non-residential services (court advocacy, crisis intervention, counseling, and more) supporting domestic violence victims and their children in 2019.
• Across Missouri, domestic violence advocates provided 358,692 bed nights of emergency shelter; 33,662 hours of licensed professional therapy; and 332,620 hours of advocacy and support in 2019.
• Missouri programs assisted domestic violence survivors by answering 89,118 hotline calls, providing safety planning, access to support services, and other resources in 2019.