RESPOND was one of Massachusetts' first domestic violence programs for women and children and second in the nation. Founded in 1975 — long before this was a headline issue — by a group of concerned Somerville women who wished simply to provide refuge in their homes to battered women. Like many pioneering charities, it has grown with its issue; today, RESPOND is the primary service provider for women and children in 11 communities including Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, North Reading, Reading, Somerville, Stoneham, Wakfield, Winchester and Woburn. Services include high-quality 24-hour intake and referral services, emergency shelter, individual and group counseling, comprehensive children's services, health, housing and legal advocacy (including for men), and statewide training and outreach initiatives.

RESPOND has also extended its reach across city and state boundaries, ethnic communities, and to under-served population groups. Its Linguistic Outreach Project has brought native language counseling and legal advocacy services to women from Spanish-speaking, Haitian, Creole and French-speaking communities. It has helped broaden its field by reaching out to people with disabilities, and abused gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered victims.

Today, RESPOND is still leading its field, in the last 10 years serving more than 26,000 women and children. Here is your chance to support their leadership—in gratitude for its past, and hope for its future provision of shelter, support, advocacy and public education.