Marijke’s Place

— 2021 UPDATE —

We currently have two families residing at Marijkes Place.

Successes:

  • Being a support system for women in Marijke’s Place, as well as clients in the community
  • Provide food, hygiene, clothing, diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies, shelter, support
  • Provide comprehensive wraparound services to clients with complex needs
  • Provide trauma therapy to women and children victimized by an abusive partner or witnessing domestic violence in the home
  • Emergency financial assistance was able to be provided for clients in urgent need
  • Afford a House Manager position
  • Have bilingual staff assisting the most vulnerable
  • Provide supportive services 24/7 for clients to reach out
  • Multiple outlets for new clients to reach out through
  • Successful partnership with Hope Works and Family Justice Center.
  • Awareness trainings for community causes
  • We received reimburseable funding from Victims of Crimes Act (VOCA)  federal funding through the Office of the Victims of Crime (OVC), which In Honor of Her was able to assist us in laying out the funds.

Challenges:

  • Unable to meet the demand for housing and counseling because of limited funding
  • Limited capacity because of the size of the house
  • Challenges in getting support of other homeless or domestic violence services in the area
  • Challenges in doing outreach to those in need
  • Limited transportation access
  • Finding nearby daycares and funding for daycare

Help us support this safe haven in our community.

"Divine Intervention - A miracle or act of god (or gods) that causes something good to happen …"

We would like to think that our angel Marijke had a hand in a Divine intervention that took place with us and those at the Opening New Doors Foundation, in particular Talia Gimeno. Talia is the Executive Director of the Opening New Doors Foundation. She is their Founder, and also a Domestic Violence Abuse Survivor. We were introduced to Talia through a friend of Marijke’s sister who fortuitously knew of Talia’s talent. It took some time for us to finally connect due to busy scheduling conflicts but when we did, WHOA!!!! It was magic!!!!! Talia shared our vision, and wanted to partner with us in a project that she was already well on her way on. We, after years of fundraising and working on a dream to create a safe place in our community, finally had the funds to help support Talia’s work and help her push both of our combined dreams forward. On June 29, 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, Talia invited us to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for the first privately run domestic violence transitional housing facility in Montgomery County, MD. And, to make it most special, Talia arranged for the home to be named after our spiritual leader, inviting us into MARIJKE’s PLACE. It was a beautiful, emotional, and MOST happy day. We are so grateful, honored, and blessed to have crossed paths with Talia and the Opening New Doors Foundation.