Community Resources

Domestic violence and sexual assault are accepted as public health problems, both physically and mentally. And, because both domestic violence and sexual assault are detrimental to an individual’s economic viability, mental well-being, and community safety, they are therefore public health challenges. Futures Without Violence is a nonprofit group dedicated to ending domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, and other interpersonal violence through the creation of public policy and community training and education. This paper will emphasize Futures Without Violence’s work to improve public health and safety, to create equal opportunities, improve quality of life, and meet the health care needs of our communities by partnering with federal and state agencies and their programming.

• Organization’s Mission and Vision Contribution to Safety Improvements

Futures Without Violence is a nonprofit dedicated to ending and preventing violence against women, children, and families. The organization’s main purpose is to support policy, program, and social movements that will develop and maintain violence-free and safe communities (Futures Without Violence, 2025b). The organization sees no resistance to anyone being able to live in a world free from violence, abuse, or exploitation irrespective of gender, age, race, socioeconomic status, and culture. Violence is one of the biggest drivers of poor health and safety, so this mission is vital to the health and safety of our population as a whole. The effects of violence are incommensurable on an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. By implementing programs centered on prevention, education, advocacy, and support for survivors of violence, Futures Without Violence promotes public safety and prevents future violence by tackling the root causes of violence before it occurs.

• Example of Futures Without Violence’s Initiative Supporting its Mission and Vision

Futures Without Violence has several programs, such as its National Health Resource Centre on Domestic Violence, which uses trauma-informed care principles to identify and respond to domestic violence (Futures Without Violence, 2025a). In addition, the resource center offers training and resources for healthcare professionals for patient screening to identify domestic violence and access to an evidence-based resource library to assist in early identification and referral of individuals experiencing domestic violence. Education and intervention opportunities that are part of this effort align with the organization’s purpose and vision, and involve embedding domestic violence prevention into healthcare environments where potential victims are accessing a health service. It can help victims recognize the signs of domestic abuse and provide them with the right and timely help.

• Futures Without Violence’s Ability to Promote Equal Opportunity and Improve Quality of Life

Futures Without Violence’s mission is to remove barriers that block new opportunities for people, such as social/cultural/economic/physical access to resources for safety and/or for victims of domestic/sexual violence. Domestic/sexual violence disproportionately affects women, children, minorities, the physically challenged, and economically disadvantaged families. To address these barriers, Futures Without Violence offers culturally competent education programs and multilingual resources; works to eliminate barriers through policy; and works with health care, school, and community agencies. The data show that violence victims will be more likely to experience negative physical and psychological health outcomes due to the violence suffered, and will have fewer future opportunities for economic growth (Bravo-Queipo-de-Llano et al., 2024). By offering a safe environment for family members to get away from an abusive home and link them to the services they can access to better their future health, employment, and quality of life.

• Implications for the Organization and Community

An organization’s ability to meet its goals is based on how successful it is at changing to meet the continual changes to social conditions, changes in patterns of violence, and changes in the needs of communities in the future. Hence, sustained creativity is required to develop innovative approaches and strategies to the issue of intimate partner violence and technology-based violence intervention, both in prevention and intervention (Dasgupta & Melvin, 2024). Ongoing success in Futures Without Violence efforts will translate to a decrease in violence, better mental health, better family relationships, and more resources available to support communities. Long-term benefits of Futures Without Violence programs for communities involve increased safety for communities, healthier and more productive families, and decreased needs for healthcare, the criminal justice system, and social service systems. How Futures Without Violence’s service delivery is influenced by funding, policy, and legislation.

Impact of Funding Sources, Policy, and Legislation on Futures Without Violence’s Service Delivery

• Funding Sources

Funding sources such as federal grants, private foundations, corporate sponsorships, and charitable donations. The diverse funding sources will ensure Futures Without Violence has sufficient funds to develop long-term effective violence prevention programs. For instance, government grants have provided Futures Without Violence with $9.6 million, and private donations have provided $13.4 million (Futures Without Violence, 2024b).

• Policy

Public policy has an impact on Futures Without Violence and how the organization is implemented. Futures Without Violence advocates for trauma-informed healthcare and violence prevention programs; supportive, safe spaces for survivors; and education programs teaching healthy relationships. For example, the National Healthcare Resources for Domestic Violence is a public policy initiative for local violence victims (Futures Without Violence, 2025a).

• Legislation

Legislation makes Futures Without Violence resources accessible to put effective community-based and evidence-based prevention and/or intervention strategies into practice. There are numerous legislative funding sources that will support the Futures Without Violence mission, including, but not limited to, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which provides funding for victim services, violence prevention, legal protections, and community-based interventions (Futures Without Violence, 2024a).

• Implications of Funding Decisions, Policy, and Legislation for Community Members

Funding, policies, and legislation impact the lives of people, families, and communities that are supported by Futures Without Violence. More resources will help Futures Without Violence improve current education programs, offer more services to survivors, provide professional training for service providers, and create public awareness initiatives. However, a lack of funding or greater policy-level restrictions can create further gaps in service provision, which can impact a survivor’s access to the critical support that they require (Idriss-Wheeler et al., 2024). Consequently, survivors may face longer delays in services, fewer resources, and more obstacles to services

• Impact of Futures Without Violence’s Work on Health and Safety Needs of a Local Community

Futures Without Violence tackles the important health and safety issues of sexual and domestic violence by helping to reduce the prevalence and impact of such violence dramatically. Futures Without Violence also works on the prevention of injury, on mental health, and on strengthening communities through education and awareness. Promotion of resources, partnership working with health care professionals, and initiating partnerships with non-profits are also relevant (Bacchus et al., 2024). Violence has an impact on multiple aspects of one’s physical and emotional health, which makes Futures Without Violence an impactful organization in people’s lives. In addition, Futures Without Violence aims to help prevent chronic health conditions caused by trauma and abuse through early intervention and making health services more accessible.

• Nurses’ Role in Public Safety

Nurses have a critical role to play in identifying, preventing, and responding to domestic or sexual abuse or violence. Nurses are able to identify victims of violence and refer them to the services they need through screening, assessment, education for patients regarding services available, and referral. Furthermore, nurses play a role in public safety by implementing trauma-informed patient care within the scope of their nursing practice, as well as promoting health policies that aim to prevent violence and abuse among individuals (Roberts et al., 2025). Nurses’ involvement in the public health response to violence supports and facilitates coalition-building with a variety of disciplines to enhance health equity and ensure the health and safety of patients and the public.

• Nurses’ Involvement and Creative Ideas for Engagement

The Futures Without Violence organization offers several opportunities for nurses to get involved in the community for violence prevention, education, advocacy, and outreach. The involvement of nurses can be seen in different ways, such as inclusion of nurses in professional education and training on violence prevention. Partnering with community organizations to develop educational resources regarding healthy relationships and community resources is another important role played by nurses (Aljomaie et al., 2022). Nurses will take part in these kinds of activities, thereby expanding their scope of influence beyond what they do in the clinical setting. They can also talk about many of the social determinants that impact the health of the people in their community.

Conclusion

Futures Without Violence is a non-profit, one of the largest, striving to improve the lives of families & communities by addressing violence, healthy living, advocacy, and policy work. Futures Without Violence’s mission is to create safe communities with its definition of a public health approach to address domestic violence, sexual violence, and other forms of violence as public health issues. The organization has continued to expand its reach through collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders over the years. Together, Futures Without Violence has been effective in creating better lives for people, families, and communities through partnerships, advocacy, and legislative action. In addition to screening, education, advocacy, and community outreach, nurses are a vital component in supporting Futures Without Violence’s mission.