Founded in 1977, Chicago Abused Women Coalition (CAWC) established Chicago's first 24-hour domestic violence hotline and opened Greenhouse Shelter, Chicago's first safe refuge for battered women and their children in 1979. CAWC's keystone programs and services continue to provide comprehensive life-saving assistance to over 1,000 women and children each year. In addition, CAWC has become known for innovative model programs and partnerships.

In 1992, CAWC founded the Hospital Crisis Intervention Project (HCIP). The first of its kind in a public hospital, HCIP is a model on-site domestic violence program at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County that trains clinicians on the public health impact of abuse - including the effective identification and referral of victims - and assists over 400 battered women who are referred from various departments within the hospital system.

In 1998, CAWC began providing domestic violence services to women seeking substance abuse treatment at Haymarket Center. In 2000, CAWC opened the Humboldt Park Outreach Program (HPOP), a walk-in program at our administrative offices in Humboldt Park. HPOP provides individual and group counseling to victims of abuse and their children, as well as enhanced children's therapeutic services to children. CAWC is also a collaborative partner in the West Side Domestic Abuse Project (WSDAP), an intervention program for men who batter.

Requests for our services continue to escalate. Each month, Greenhouse Shelter is forced to turn away more than 600 women and children requesting emergency shelter, due to lack of space.

The help a woman receives when she flees an abusive relationship increases her ability to remain free from abuse. For battered women, CAWC services open up the possibility of forgotten dreams: education, career, better futures for their children, and lives free of fear and violence.