A Safe Next Step: How River & Vine Is Building a Path Forward for Georgia Women

Content note: this post discusses domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking. Support resources are listed at the end.

I remember being a 20-something leaving an abusive husband, the mother of a 12-month-old with no job and no money, who finally left that day with no time to make a plan or pack a bag.

He knew everywhere I'd go. I didn't want to involve my family, and I didn't know how far he would go this time.

So, for me, my immediate question was: Where do I go tonight? And what happens after that?

That question is why River & Vine exists.

The gap between a crisis night and a new life

The need in Georgia is not abstract. In 2024 alone, according to the Georgia Commission on Family Violence and the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence:

• 159 Georgians died in domestic violence-related incidents.

• 42,184 family violence incidents were reported to law enforcement, a 12% increase over 2023.

• 70% of victims of reported family violence were women.

• Nearly one in three incidents happened with a child present.

• Georgia's certified family violence agencies answered 110,001 crisis calls.

Georgia's shelters and advocates do essential, heroic work. Even so, too many women leave harm without a safe place to sleep that night, or in the weeks that follow. Others need something quieter and more flexible than a large group shelter: a place where their children can stay with them, where they can rest, and where they have time to rebuild.

That is the space between a crisis night and permanent housing. It's where many women get stuck, and where too many go back to the danger they fled because nothing else was available.

Our core program: Safe Next Step

Safe Next Step is River & Vine's temporary housing program for women and their children who are fleeing or recovering from domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and related abuse. We believe a safe bed makes every other kind of help possible. It's hard to apply for a job, attend a court date, or enroll a child in school when you don't know where you'll sleep.

So housing comes first, and it comes in three forms:

• Bridge Stay. A short stay in a hotel or furnished unit, paid for by River & Vine, for women with an immediate safety need.

• Temporary Home. A confidential or shared room or residential area for women who need more time to stabilize, work, go to school, or search for permanent housing.

• Partner Placement. A warm handoff to an established Georgia shelter or specialized program when that's the safest fit, or when our own space is full.

Every stay includes a private safety plan, help building a written housing plan within the first week, and support for any children in the household. Locations are always kept confidential. No woman is ever required to file a police report, attend counseling, or take part in any religious activity to receive help. Safety and dignity come first. Everything else is her choice.

Support that surrounds the housing

Housing is the door. These programs help women make the most of the time behind it.

Advocacy and case management. A trained advocate helps each woman understand her options and move through complicated systems without doing it alone. That includes victim compensation, benefits, Georgia's Safe at Home address confidentiality program, and referrals to legal aid and counseling. Women don't need to live in our housing to get this help. Many are staying with family, in another program, or still deciding whether to leave.

Flexible financial assistance. Sometimes the barrier between a woman and safety is small and concrete: a replacement ID, a phone, a security deposit, a car seat, work clothes. We pay these costs directly, quickly, and with care, so a missing $200 doesn't cost someone a lease.

Children's support. Children in our housing receive age-appropriate supply kits, help with school enrollment, and calm, predictable routines. Mothers are never separated from their children as a condition of help, and no child is ever asked to retell what happened.

Where do we start

We are intentionally starting small so we can do this work well. As River & Vine grows, our plan is to add programs that walk with women through every season of rebuilding:

Focus area	Programs we plan to add
Healing and connection	Peer support and healing groups; aftercare check-ins after a woman leaves housing
Legal and safety	Legal access through partner attorneys; prevention and community education
Mothers and children	Parenting support; childcare and respite; maternal and baby essentials
Economic independence	Workforce readiness; financial literacy and recovery from economic abuse
Girls and young women	Mentoring for girls ages 10–17; school-based support; education help
Everyday stability	Transportation assistance; food and household support; health navigation

Together, these programs reflect what we believe about women: they are not defined by what was done to them. Whether she is a teenager finding her voice, a young mother starting over, or an older woman reclaiming control of her money and her life, every woman deserves the chance to rebuild, not just survive.

Why the name River & Vine?

The river stands for healing: it is continuous and moving, and sometimes slow, but always going somewhere. The vine stands for rooted growth: connection, community, and the capacity to bear fruit again. We are here because no woman should have to take her journey alone.

How you can help

We're building River & Vine in partnership with the Georgia community. Here's how you can be part of it:

• Give. A gift to our flexible assistance or housing fund helps cover hotel nights, groceries, IDs, and children's supplies for women in crisis.

• Donate essentials. Diapers, wipes, period products, hygiene items, new children's clothing, and gift cards for groceries or gas go directly into the hands of women and children we serve.

• Partner with us. Are you part of a shelter, legal aid office, church, school, hospital, hotel, or business that wants to help? We're building referral and community partnerships now. Email us: info@riverandvine.org.

• Share this post. Someone in your network may be ready to give, or may need to know that help exists.

If you or someone you know needs help

• Georgia Statewide Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-33-HAVEN (1-800-334-2836)

• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788

• RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE (4673)

• National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888, or text 233733

If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

Statistics: Georgia Family Violence Statistics & Trends, 2025 Annual Fact Sheet (Georgia Commission on Family Violence and GCADV), reporting 2024 data.