HOPE Works, Inc.

Mission

HOPE Works is dedicated to ending all forms of sexual violence. We are committed to serving the Chittenden County community through the continued provision of our services and to being a leading voice in the State of Vermont for meaningful change in law and society. We provide crisis counseling and advocacy for those whose lives have been affected by sexual violence. Our education outreach work strives to change attitudes and beliefs that perpetuate and condone the cycle of violence. We constantly seek to expand our efforts to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse community and welcome all to our agency. Support for our mission is actively sought through fundraising, development, and the dedicated efforts of our volunteers.

History

HOPE Works began as a group of women answering a nighttime hotline for survivors of sexual violence in 1973. This group of women called themselves Women Against Rape, or WAR. We are now a 501(c) non-profit agency with 7 full-time staff, 4 part-time staff and over 50 hotline, education, and fundraising volunteers. We still use the same phone number used back in 1973, when volunteers answered the hotline out of a living room of a member's home.