Center for Hope Programs

In response to the growing presence of violence in Baltimore, LifeBridge Health is committed to building hope with our communities. Comprehensive programs, experts and city agency partners have joined together to foster positivity, safety and success for children, youth and adults. Center for Hope offers integrated programs and services designed to break the cycle of violence and its lifelong impact for victims of all races, ethnicities and religions, from the cradle to old age.

Ending Community Violence

PAAVE (Pathways to Advocacy Against Violence Every day)

PAAVE provides trauma-sensitive, evidence-based, intensive case management, mental health treatment and meaningful referrals to youth and their families who have been impacted by a youth homicide or a near-fatal incident. PAAVE identifies the immediate and long-term needs of the client and their family unit. The case manager serves as a link between the families and the programs and services that are in place within Baltimore through meaningful and appropriate referrals and follow up. Referral connection and support can include, but is not limited to: food assistance, job development & assistance, medical support, mental health services, housing assistance, and other support. The goal of PAAVE is to provide intensive support and links to opportunities that will boost youth and family protective factors and prevent further community violence.

Kujichagulia Center

Kujichagulia is Swahilii for self-determination. The Center for Hope’s Kujichagulia Center is our case management and working life skills training program for young men and women at risk of violence in Northwest Baltimore City. The Kuji Center assists victims of community violence treated at Sinai Hospital’s Emergency Department or admitted to the hospital’s trauma unit. Sinai Violence Response Team presents alternative paths to violence, offering mentoring, coaching and conflict management skills development. Through the Kujichagulia Skills Readiness Program, many develop successful work proficiencies, receive assistance with legal matters and obtain mental health treatment. The workforce readiness and life skills training prepares clients for internships, apprenticeships and certification programs offered in the Baltimore metropolitan area with the goal of supporting clients as they gain and maintain employment that will provide a livable wage and a life away from violence.

Safe Streets - Belvedere Neighborhood

Our Safe Streets site engages the entire Belvedere community - building relationships that lead to community cohesion and ultimately prevent shootings. Safe Streets Belvedere utilizes a team of Violence Interrupters to sustain previous efforts to eradicate violence by identifying and detecting potential shooting events and identifying and detecting individuals and groups at highest risk of involvement of shooting or killing. The team interrupts potential violence by mediating conflicts and preventing retaliation, changing behaviors and norms of those at highest risk of involvement of shooting or killing and using data to inform daily efforts and make necessary changes to interruption strategies. The Safe Streets Belvedere office serves as a safe space for relationship-building, workforce development, community meetings, and other collaborations for high-risk youth and young adults in the Central Park Heights community. The goal of Safe Streets Belvedere is to shift the trajectory of violence by changing norms within the community.

Sinai Hospital-based Violence Response Team

The Violence Response Team (VRT) of Sinai Hospital is comprised of specially trained individuals who assist patients experiencing trauma and/or injury as a result of an act of violence with resources to improve their health and well-being, lessen the impact of trauma, and decrease the likelihood of the reoccurrence of violence. VRT is a 24/7 crisis response program designed to assist those who are victims of domestic violence also known as intimate partner violence, community violence, and elder abuse. Our goal is to ensure safety, offer emotional support, and connect patients to comprehensive community-based services and resources.

Preventing Child Abuse, Exploitation and Human Trafficking

Child Advocacy Center

A nationally accredited children’s advocacy center serving Baltimore for over 30 years, Center for Hope’s Child Advocacy Center (formerly Baltimore Child Abuse Center) is one of the country’s top violence intervention and prevention agencies, aimed at caring for children and family members affected by violence. As the primary advocate for victims and point of contact for child-sensitive investigations and follow-up, the Child Advocacy Center eliminates the lengthy, repetitive, and often traumatic process that previously existed in Baltimore City. The Center’s activities focus on intervention when abuse is reported, treatment to aid in the healing of survivors and their families, education around recognizing, preventing and reporting suspicions of abuse, and advocacy at the local, state and national levels. The Child Advocacy Center’s comprehensive services in these areas address the immediate and long-term challenges child sexual abuse and adverse childhood experiences pose to the Baltimore region.

Providing Elder Justice

Elder Justice

Elder Abuse is physical, emotional, or sexual harm inflicted upon an older adult. It also includes financial exploitation or neglect of an older adult’s welfare by people who are directly responsible for their care. About 1 in 10 Americans over age 60 are abused, neglected or financially exploited. Partnering with experts at Levindale and Sinai hospitals, the Elder Justice Center provides rapid response, forensic interviewing and mental health services for elders who have experienced physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse. This also includes financial and material abuse, neglect, and loss of dignity and respect. The center provides outreach, intervention and prevention programs to enable elder community members to live safely with dignity and respect.

Stopping Domestic, Family and Interpersonal Violence

Domestic Violence Response

The Center for Hope includes hospital-based responses in three LifeBridge Health hospitals, Grace Medical Center in West Baltimore, Northwest Hospital in Randallstown and Sinai Hospital of Baltimore that assist patients and community members with free and confidential services.

Youth Programs

DIVAS

DIVAS is a group for young women, 12 to 16 years old, who have experienced some type of trauma in their lives. The goal of the DIVAS program is to assist young women in identifying their life goals and preparing them to attain those goals. This is a 30-week program that engages young women in fun activities to teach communication skills, personal safety and conflict resolution while building self-esteem, developing sisterhood and exploring their communities. Activities include workshops on body language and communication as well as field trips.

Mental Health Programs

Mental Health Programs

The Mental Health Program (MHP) provides trauma-focused, evidence-based outpatient psychotherapeutic services to Baltimore City residents recovering from traumatic life experiences across the lifespan, as young as 3 years-old.