National Projects
Daughters of Penelope National Projects
At the 2023 Supreme Convention in Las Vegas, NV, the Daughters of Penelope selected three permanent obligations, two mandatory projects and three voluntary charitable projects for the 2023-2024 National Obligations year.
They are:
Permanent Obligations:
- Domestic Family Violence Center: Penelope House, Mobile, AL
- Domestic Family Violence Center: Penelope's Place, Brockton, MA
- Penelopean Day Care Center - Athens, Greece
Mandatory Obligations:
- Limbitless Solutions
- Community House Damaris - Athens, Greece
Voluntary Obligations:
- LAM Foundation
- Water with Blessings
- ELIZA Foundation – Athens, Greece
Description of Permanent Obligations
Penelope House Family Violence Center - www.penelopehouse.org - Penelope House, the first shelter for battered women and children in Alabama, was founded under the direction of the Daughters of Penelope Chapter in 1978. Penelope House was one of the first such shelters in the nation and has served as a model for many shelters in the U.S. Penelope House helps victims of domestic violence to gain social and economic independence through shelter, counseling, advocacy and referral to community resources and agencies. Click here to view a video presentation of Penelope House.
The 24-hour crisis lines provide counseling, information and referral services to families in abusive situations. Penelope House provides shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children. Victims are provided a safe place to stay while assessing their life situation and setting goals for the future. Financial support to Penelope House helps saves lives of victims of domestic violence's and their children and helps provide them needed services.
Penelope's Place Family Violence Center - Penelope's Place, a collaboration between the Daughters of Penelope and Health Imperatives (https://healthimperatives.org/ ) is a 24/7 emergency residence in the City of Brockton, MA, for women and children fleeing domestic violence. Residents live at Penelope's Place for an average of 90 days. During that time Penelope's Place staff provides a safe place for healing from the trauma of domestic violence. Each resident is assigned to a primary staff person, who works with the resident and her family to develop goals to achieve self-sufficiency upon leaving Penelope's Place. Services provided include counseling, housing, legal and medical advocacy, life skills, parenting skills, and job coaching. In addition, children receive services from a specialized child therapist. Penelope's Place can accommodate up to five families at any time. Click here to learn more about Penelope’s Place.
Penelopean Day Care Center in Athens, Greece- Located in Nea Ionia in Greece, the center is a Nursing and Day Care Center for Children eight months to preschool aged children of underprivileged families with low or no income. Click here to view a video presentation of the Penelopean Day Care Center.
Description of Mandatory Projects
Limbitless Solutions - www.limbitless-solutions.org - Limbitless Solutions is a non-profit organization devoted to bringing volunteers and technology to the kids who need it most. Limbitless Solutions is devoted to building a generation of innovators who use their skills and passion to improve the world around them. The organization uses additive manufacturing to advance personalized bionics and solutions for disabilities. Limbitless Solutions believes that no family should have to pay for their child to receive an arm. Click here to view a video presentation of Limbitless Solutions.
Community House Damaris - https://www.damaris.gr/about - Community House Damaris (CHD) is a Christian organization that operates a safe house based in Athens, Greece and offers a long-term recovery program (3-7 years) for women age 18 to 35 and their children who have been or are at high risk of sexual exploitation or trafficking. The program is designed to guide survivors into full rehabilitation and reintegration into society by addressing mental health, poverty, social services, health, and personal development. Click here for a video overview.
Description of Voluntary Projects
The LAM Foundation - www.thelamfoundation.org - The LAM Foundation urgently seeks safe and effective treatments, and ultimately a cure, for lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) through advocacy and the funding of promising research. LAM is dedicated to serving the scientific, medical and patient communities by offering information, resources and a worldwide network of hope and support. To learn more, click here: www.thelamfoundation.org.
Water with Blessing - www.waterwithblessings.org - For remote/underserved communities in developing countries. We equip, empower and entrust mothers as Water Women who serve their families and neighbors by filtering water through Sawyer PointONE bucket filters.
Eliza - https://eliza.org.gr/en/get-to-know-us/our-vision-and-mission/ - Our vision is our duty towards the children. To protect them. To care for them or to take measures before violence is inflicted upon them and damages them for life. Elisa’s cry for help went unheard. All those who heard, who reported, who tried, felt helpless in front of a system that was deaf, trapped within the letter of the law. The child cried for help, and the signs were all there, on her body and in her behavior, also crying for help. The story of Elisa, who died by the hand of her own mother in a case that was described by the authorities as “the worst case of child abuse [they] had ever seen” became the driving force for ELIZA, the only Non-Profit Society fighting to put an end to child abuse.