By Will Cornelius
The Surveyor

Each year the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor kicks off the holiday season by highlighting opportunities for gratitude and giving. This is the final installment of a five-part series, each week featuring an organization that provides services to members of our community.

Alternatives to Violence (ATV) is a non-profit organization based in Loveland that provides shelter, advocacy, education and resources for people impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. ATV provides services to women, men and children regardless of race, sexual orientation or legal status.
Kari Clark, the executive director of ATV, said there are a lot of housing services in the community for issues like homelessness, but not for single people with children. “Most of those are the people who come to us because they are leaving an abusive relationship. And it is really expensive to try to leave a relationship and find a place to live when you are a single mother or father.”

Originally started in 1982 in the basement of the First United Methodist Church in Loveland, ATV now employs about 20 people, including case managers, court advocates and now a grant writer. “We all step in as much as we can to answer the phone,” Clark said. ATV averages 170 crisis calls a month, a stark rise from pre-COVID times when it was about 100.

Providing services to people in crisis is always a challenge and ATV has changed over time in response. “For years, we really focused on therapeutic services,” Clark explained. “Best practices have shown over time that that’s not necessarily what people need who are in the crisis intervention stage of leaving a relationship, in the middle of a relationship and trying to leave. They do not need therapy right away—they need resources to be able to get them out of it and continue on with self-sufficiency in their life. So we now go off an advocacy-based model.”

The advocacy model emphasizes the role of social workers in supporting people and providing them with choices. Clark explained that it can be extremely difficult for someone to leave an abusive relationship. “There are many reasons why people stay or why they go back. And all of them are valid, including love, that is a big one.”
Combined with children and finances, leaving an abusive relationship is not simple for most people, Clark said. “The phrase I hear all the time is, ‘I was stupid and then went back.’ And I have to reassure people—you are not stupid.”

Helping people deal with the fallout of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking requires a range of services from ATV. Providing emergency shelter and housing resources is one of the fundamental areas ATV focuses on. “Emergency shelter is exactly what it sounds like. Come in, we have up to an eight-week stay,” Clark said about the program they offer for people who need immediate help with shelter. ATV also offers other residential resources, like help with relocating or finding affordable housing.

Non-residential services are the other major component of ATV. “We’ll attend court with people, not as legal representation, but as a support system,” Clark mentioned. Working with a case manager, ATV will provide resources to address people’s continuing needs to build self-sufficiency. That could be getting a protective order from the court, crime victim compensation, applying for food stamps or finding childcare.

The final service ATV offers is outreach and prevention in the community. “Talk about red flags, what it is, because nobody ever wants to talk about that. It is not a happy subject. But one in three women and one in seven men have been a victim of domestic violence at some point in their lives. So it is a lot of people. No one wants to talk about it, but they need help,” Clark stated. She said ATV is working to expand outreach with the Thompson School District to teach students about healthy relationships.
In addition to serving the greater Loveland area, Clark said, “We’re always available to those in Berthoud.” ATV’s most recent strategic plan includes a commitment to expand into Berthoud with a physical space and presence.

Donations to ATV can be made through their website https://alternativestoviolence.org/. There is also a range of volunteering opportunities to help ATV.
ATV also has a 24-hour number to call at (970) 669-5150 or text at (970) 669-5157.