SIKESTON -- Domestic violence victims in the Sikeston area will now have more services available to them than ever before.
Bootheel Counseling Services recently received a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health which allows the agency to work closer with the House of Refuge and encourage victims of domestic violence or intimate partner violence to get the help they need.
Jennifer Hartlein, director of fund development and public relations at Bootheel Counseling Services, said the two-year grant was designed to benefit women who receive services at either agency. It will help offset costs for individual and group counseling services for women who are victims of domestic violence, she said.
"By working together, we hope to reach more women in need of services," Hartlein said. "We will focus on three key components for treatment: self esteem and evaluation of self worth; assertiveness and evaluation of assertiveness; and healthy decision-making that promotes a life without violence."
The hope is also to have peer-led groups at both the House of Refuge and Bootheel Counseling Services, Hartlein said.
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