Sistercare

Mission: As a nonprofit, United Way partner agency, Sistercare's mission is to provide services and to advocate for abused women and their children, and to promote prevention of domestic violence through community awareness and training.

Goals: Sistercare’s goals are to:

1) Provide safety for battered women and their children at confidential shelters.
2) Reduce the negative ramifications and intergenerational effects of domestic violence on children from violent homes.
3) Reduce future risk of family violence and develop women’s self-sufficiency through essential support services.
4) Prevent domestic violence through training, community education and awareness.

Programs: Sistercare offers a comprehensive range of services to benefit battered women and their children and addresses systemic change within the community. Sistercare’s programs include:

Emergency Shelters: Three emergency shelters in Richland and Lexington counties offer a safe, nonjudgmental atmosphere where domestic violence victims can escape violence and plan for the future. Individual and group counseling for women and children, life skills development, case management, room, food, laundry, clothing, transportation and more are provided.

Crisis Telephone Line: Staff provides crisis intervention, shelter admission screening, and referral and information 24-hours a day, 7 days-a-week.

Community Group Support groups, led by counselors and former domestic violence victims/survivors, help
Counseling: battered women through discussion, encouragement, and awareness.

Individual Counseling: A counselor provides one-on-one counseling with battered women residing in the community.


Court Advocacy: Battered women are informed about the legal process, available options, and their rights. Court advocates help them obtain professional legal services, accompany them to court, and advocate for protection through the judicial system. (Sistercare Advocates are not attorneys and cannot dispense legal advice.)

Children’s Counseling: Group, family and individual counseling, therapeutic play, and recreational activities are provided for children from violent homes to help them address the trauma of family violence.

Post Shelter Battered women and their children, who have left Sistercare’s emergency shelters and
Follow Up Services: returned to the community, are provided with resources, advocacy and counseling.

Rural Services: Satellite offices with advocates are maintained in Fairfield, Kershaw and Newberry counties where support groups, counseling, court advocacy, information and referral, and support services are provided for battered women and their children.

Transitional Housing: Families from our shelters and community-based programs are transitioned to community housing where they receive intensive services to help them become economically independent and remain free of the abusive relationship.

Community Education Presentations are offered by a Sistercare trainer to victim service providers, volunteers and the
and Awareness: community on the issues of domestic violence, Sistercare and our services. A volunteer speaker’s bureau is available to address civic, faith-based and professional organizations to raise awareness and understanding of interpersonal violence and Sistercare’s services.


Philosophy of Service: Sistercare’s philosophy is to empower battered women and their children to live free of interpersonal violence; become educated about domestic violence; be able to make informed decisions; take responsibility for themselves and their children; and achieve self-sufficiency. This philosophy is applied by offering abused women a full range of services to include emergency shelter, 24-hour crisis line, group counseling, legal advocacy, children’s counseling, individual counseling, and post shelter follow up services.