For 37 years, AVDA has served an important need in our city by providing free legal advocacy and representation to survivors of domestic abuse. As needs rise and societal and environmental changes occur, AVDA remains nimble, flexible, and responsive. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, AVDA reached out to its clients to assess financial needs and responded by making emergency aid available to survivors through its newly created and highly effective AVDA Victim Relief Fund.
Now, in response to the growing need in Fort Bend County for legal services for victims of domestic violence, AVDA is expanding its free legal aid program there. Our legal team of AVDA Paralegal Nelda Canales and Managing Attorney Kusum Warsi is serving clients at offices at the United Way Fort Bend Center in Stafford and the Fort Bend County Women’s Center in the Richmond/Rosenberg area.
Combining DV stats (one in four women will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime) with Fort Bend’s astounding population growth equates a real need for AVDA’s services in the region. Since 2010 Fort Bend County has seen a population increase of 7.2%, making it one of the top ten fastest growing large counties according to Forbes. Fort Bend County’s population will increase by 368 percent, or more than 2.1 million people, by 2050 if current migration trends continue, according to new projections by researchers at the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs.
With this type of population growth projected, AVDA wants to be at the forefront in Fort Bend County of working to end abuse to stop the cycle of violence. We at AVDA envision a non-abusive and violence-free future where relationships are based on mutual respect.
