Partners for Peace engages individuals and the community to end domestic violence in Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties.  We provide support, advocacy and safety planning to anyone affected by domestic abuse.  We foster safe and healthy relationships through prevention, education and training.  Together with our community we recognize the nature of abuse, respond to it, and change the conditions which lead to it.

Programs We Fund

Success Stories.

Donna* (name changed) worked with Partners for Peace years ago as she was leaving a relationship with someone who was abusing her and her daughter. She lived in our Transitional Housing program and returned to school to become a nurse. She secured stable housing for herself and her daughter, and was gainfully employed.

Years later, her son’s life was taken as a result of domestic violence and she reconnected with Partners for Peace. After her son’s death, her daughter was placed within the foster care system. Alone and afraid, she called the helpline, and she was met with a compassionate advocate who created space for her to share her story and new painful reality.

Donna was in need of dire help navigating the foster care system, finding a way to pay her bills, and treating her many mental health needs after going through this significant trauma. Thankfully, the Department of Health and Human Services agreed to place Donna’s daughter in the care of her mother. However, Donna’s mother, who receives Social Security Disability, lived in an apartment that was not big enough to accommodate her granddaughter. Donna and her Partners for Peace advocate got creative and came up with a safety plan with the Department. Donna moved her mother and daughter into her trailer and Donna moved in with a friend, due to the conditions set by Child Protective Services that Donna’s time with her daughter be supervised.

Because of her severe depression, Donna was not able to work to pay her rent on her trailer where her mother and daughter are living. Prior to her son’s death, Donna’s ex-boyfriend stole her debit card while she was in the hospital recovering from a C-Section. He drained her bank account, as he had done many times before. It wasn’t until after her son’s murder that she started getting over-draft fees and she realized the extent of the economic damage she would need to recover from.

Partners for Peace advocates were there for Donna and continue to be there for her in her greatest time of need. Partners for Peace has been paying for her rent for her trailer where her mother and daughter stay, while Donna works to reunify with her daughter, treat her mental health, and get back on her feet financially. Donna attends our education-based support group weekly to connect with other survivors of domestic violence whose children have been harmed or killed by their domestic partners. Her Partners for Peace advocate has helped her navigate the confusing world of social services and connect her with mental health treatment. We have also helped her by connecting her with local food cupboards and helping her apply for state and local assistance to help make ends meet.

According to Donna, “I am so grateful for the help. I just want to do whatever I can to be back with my daughter full time.” Partners for Peace will be there for her every step of the way.