Free Jewish Survivor Support — Domestic Abuse & Trauma | CHANA

CHANA is a Baltimore-based Jewish nonprofit providing a Jewish community response to domestic violence, sexual abuse, elder abuse, and other forms of interpersonal trauma. CHANA combines a 24/7 helpline, support groups for survivors, advocacy services, safety planning, education, and consultation — all delivered with cultural sensitivity to Jewish family dynamics, religious observance, and community context. CHANA serves both the Baltimore Jewish community directly and Jewish survivors elsewhere through its publications, consultation, and partnerships.

What to Expect

CHANA’s services for survivors include a 24-hour confidential helpline, free support groups for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, individual advocacy and safety planning, court accompaniment, and connection to Jewish-aware shelters and clinical services. CHANA’s support groups bring together Jewish survivors who share both the experience of abuse and the religious-cultural context — meaning members don’t need to explain Shabbat, holidays, family expectations, or the role of rabbis and Jewish institutions in survivor experience. CHANA also publishes educational materials, trains Jewish community leaders, and consults with other Jewish communities developing their own survivor response programs.

Who This Group Is For

CHANA serves Jewish survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, elder abuse, and interpersonal trauma — primarily in the Baltimore Jewish community, with broader reach through its publications and consultation. Survivors include women, men, youth, elders, and partners of all gender identities. CHANA welcomes survivors across the spectrum of Jewish practice — Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, secular, and unaffiliated — and is intentional about cultural responsiveness to each.

Why Peer Support Works

Jewish survivors often describe particular pressures — community visibility, religious institutional dynamics, family honor, and the practical complications of leaving an abusive partner in a tight-knit observant community. CHANA’s support groups meet that complexity directly by gathering Jewish survivors with shared cultural and religious context. The peer community that develops in those groups — survivors helping each other navigate not just the abuse but the broader Jewish community response to it — is foundational to lasting healing.

How to Join

All CHANA survivor services are free. Visit chanabaltimore.org to access the 24/7 helpline number, register for survivor support groups, request advocacy services, or contact CHANA staff. CHANA is part of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore and works in close partnership with Jewish community institutions across the Baltimore region. Survivors outside Baltimore can access CHANA’s publications, find Jewish-aware crisis lines through CHANA’s referrals, and learn from CHANA’s training resources.