For the past four decades, Chez Hope has offered a variety of resources to victims of domestic violence. They give shelter, supplies, mental care and legal assistance to both male and female victims along with their children 18 and under.

As the support organization celebrates its 40th anniversary in September, they are preparing to increase supplies, equipment and services for those who come to them with unexpected and immediate needs.

Chez Hope Director Cherrise Picard said the needs include money for supplies, equipment and their mobile advocacy units. Senator R. L. “Bret” Allain II. R-21, secured $40,000 for their first mobile advocate van, but they plan to acquire four more vans and need a source of funding.

A major struggle for domestic abuse survivors is finding safe and secure transportation and finding safe legal help. The mobile advocacy units are designed to address this problem.

Not only do they drive to a victim, they provide them with every possible resource they may need to escape their abusive situation. They even offer the ability to complete and e-file a restraining order for a judge to sign.

According to Picard, many survivors in Louisiana live in “desert” areas, meaning they have no real support system established to help them nor do they have access to any.

“You have that survivor who cannot leave their home, whether they are disabled, fearful, or in low economic classes and they don’t have access to transportation,” Picard said. “We will be able to approach servicing them in a whole new way. We are taking the brick and mortar outreach office and essentially bringing it to you.

Beyond funding, another major struggle for the organization is managing space. They use every bit of extra space in their office and on their grounds as storage for supplies.

The shelter’s daytime advocate, Maya Nicholas, explained donations are incredibly useful, but only when you have the space to store it.

“It’s always donate, donate, donate, but when we don’t have the room, it quickly becomes overwhelming,” Nicholas said.

Sometimes Chez Hope faces a language barrier when working with rural populations, so they use an interpretation system called Language Line. Language Line puts them in contact with a specialist who speaks a variety of languages and even utilizes visual Zoom calls for audio-impaired victims.

At the shelter, Chez Hope provides survivors with everything they need to re-establish a footing for themselves in their daily life. That ranges from basic necessities like toilet paper and soap to things like filling out social security forms and building resumes. As the daytime advocate, Nicholas traditionally handles these duties.

“I just stand in the middle. I close that gap in between where they are and where they wanna be,” Nicholas said.

Getting survivors back on their feet is a major goal for the shelter, so advocate Claudia Nava talks with victims about their goals and what they need to achieve them. She does everything she can to get them the resources they need, but if Chez Hope can’t provide them, Nava will find the right organization and reach out to them to establish a connection.

Chez Hope also offers non-residential advocacy in the form of legal assistance. According to Kyla David, a legal advocate, they provide victims with a variety of resources like filing a protective order and finding an attorney and legal aid. When victims go to court, they go with them for support and protection. If they need to meet with someone being tracked by their abuser, they utilize discreet meeting methods to ensure their safety.

Chez Hope also provides support to the children brought with the victims. Devin Huey, the children’s advocate, gives children tutoring and mentoring in how to handle their emotions and feeling management.

The New Iberia Chez Hope shelter is an imminent danger shelter, meaning your abuser needs to be actively seeking you to stay at their facilities. As such, they often turn away people in desperate situations by routing them through the appropriate resources. When homeless seek help at the shelter, they even bring them out to other facilities or shelters that can help them.

According to Picard, the New Iberia shelter filled in just two weeks after they opened, indicating a need for support in the region. She said they see anywhere from 20-50 restraining orders per month.

The shelter sees less activity in the winter because kids return to school and families are influenced by the cheer of the season.

“People think Christmas time is the busiest time of year, but it’s not. That’s the time that couples want to make things work. It’s the holidays, it’s the ‘touchy- feely’ time of the year. Everybody wants to have hot cocoa and sit by the fireplace.” Picard said.

In contrast, the shelter sees its highest numbers as school ends because some see it as an opportunity to free themselves from abuse.

The shelter also received less requests throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic and subsequent lockdown because they simply didn’t know the service was still available according to Picard. The whole world was in lockdown, so for many it was safe to assume Chez Hope was too, but they weren’t. When the lockdown lifted, victims looking to escape flooded the facility.

The lockdown also resulted in a rise in the number of child-abuse cases. Kids didn’t have their usual daily escape of school or friends and parents didn’t have their daily escape to work, so family tensions rose, often to a breaking point.

“The pandemic left a lot of emotional scars as well as physical scars on family units,” Picard said.

To celebrate their 40th anniversary, Chez Hope is holding a gala Sept. 28 at the Cypress Bayou Casino. Preparations for the gala are coming along smoothly, but Chez Hope needs local sponsors for the event. They have sponsors in St. Mary Parish, where the organization originated, but none in Iberia Parish. Picard said they are looking into working with Iberia Medical Center as a sponsor.

Chez Hope is having their first staff-led fundraiser at Raising Cane’s Oct. 4. The fundraiser is the brainchild of shelter coordinator, Kimberly Thomas, who organized the event with Raising Cane’s and other staff members before presenting the idea to the director.

Picard worked with Chez Hope for 23 years and said she is trying to build a mentorship and legacy in her staff at the shelter.

“Just like I was taught and mentored by the other directors in the state before me, I want our staff at Chez to experience that too,” Picard said.

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so Picard welcomes any businesses looking to work with Chez Hope during that time. She said the goal is to have businesses, churches and organizations around Iberia Parish calling and asking Chez Hope to get involved with their relevant events.

“We want Iberia to embrace us. Your program is only as successful as your community invests in it. We can grant rights and we can get all the money in the world, but if we don’t have the investment of our community, it won’t last.” Picard said.