Services

All victim services are free, confidential and available in English and Spanish. The Partner Abuse Intervention Program does charge a nominal fee to participants. If you have any questions about our services please call the 24-hour crisis line at (708) 386-4225.

24-Hour Crisis Line
The Crisis Line provides a 24-hour safety net for battered women and their families through crisis intervention, emergency assistance and information and referral services. Services focus on providing emotional support, safety planning, domestic violence education, information and referrals and one-on-one assistance with accessing resources to become self-sufficient.
Individual Advocacy and Counseling for Women, Teens and Children
Individual Services focus on providing emotional support, safety planning, domestic violence education, information and referrals and one-on-one assistance with accessing resources to become self-sufficient.
Support and Education Groups for Women, Teens and Children
Groups Services provide participants with support and encouragement. Participants share their stories and communicate about resources in the community. Women's Groups also provide participants with valuable life skills such as financial literacy, parenting assistance, résumé writing and interview skills.
Family Activities
The purpose of family activities is to repair communication and enhance stability in the family. The Family Advocate facilitates these activities once per month. The Family Advocate will also bring together any non-offending family members with their individual advocates for the purpose of enriching and strengthening the family.
Art Therapy
Art Therapy is offered to women, children, teens and families through individual sessions and group sessions. Art Therapy provides an alternative avenue for individuals that have been exposed to violence who have difficulty verbalizing that experience in a more traditional counseling setting.
Child Care
Child Care Services are available and are offered concurrently with women’s support and education groups. Volunteers provide children between the ages of 0-3 years with a safe environment where they can receive support and express their feelings through play, art, music and dance.
Emergency Financial Assistance
In the midst of a domestic violence crisis, emergency assistance is critical to ensuring the safety of women and their families. Through our Emergency Financial Assistance Services, Sarah’s Inn helps women and their families facing imminent homelessness due to domestic violence through rental, security deposit and mortgage and utilities assistance.
Rapid Response
Advocates at Sarah’s Inn will go wherever needed to assist a women, child or teen in crisis. Hospitals, police departments, high schools and other social service providers often call the crisis line to request an advocate to come to their location to meet with someone in an immediate domestic violence crisis.
Emergency Shelter
When all area domestic violence shelters are full, Sarah’s Inn provides safe shelter to women and children in a non-traditional format through emergency hotel placements. After hotel placement, an advocate will work with the family to ensure a safe, long-term housing solution.
Emergency Transportation
In cases where a woman and her children are fleeing from an abuser, Sarah’s Inn will provide transportation assistance via cab fare to local shelters or a bus/train ticket to a program in another city or state.
Teen Dating Violence Prevention
Through our Teen Dating Violence Prevention Workshops participants learn about definitions of abuse, warning signs of an abusive relationship and resources available for those in a violent dating relationship. Presentations and workshops help participants identify the differences between healthy and unhealthy dating relationships and connect youth to services at Sarah’s Inn.
Legal Advocacy
Legal Advocates provides assistance to victims of domestic violence in exercising their legal rights under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act. Housed at the Fourth Municipal District Courthouse in Maywood and the Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse at 555 W. Harrison, Legal Advocates inform victims of their legal options and assist them in pursuing the option that provides the most safety to the victims and their children. While this includes filing for Orders of Protection in civil and criminal court and advocating for the victim to receive the Order, it also includes advocating for victims to secure crime victim compensation and providing linkage to legal representation for divorce, child custody, child support, and petitioning for legal residency under the Violence Against Women Act.
Partner Abuse Intervention Program (PAIP)
PAIP provides services to both men and women who acknowledge their abusive behavior and are ready to learn how to change. The 26-week program teaches participants the about the different types of abusive behavior; belief systems that led to abusive behavior; the choice to abuse and the consequences of that abusive behavior; the effects of domestic violence on their partners and children; safety planning to prevent further abuse and more.