Free Domestic Violence Survivor Support — Lawrence, KS | The Willow
The Willow Domestic Violence Center was the first domestic violence center in Kansas, founded in 1976 by a group of Lawrence women organizing around a kitchen table. Fifty years later it still serves survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking across Douglas, Franklin, and Jefferson counties, and its support group remains one of the center’s core free services. All Willow services are free and confidential, with no requirement to be in shelter, to have filed a police report, or to have left the relationship.
What to Expect
The Willow lists a Support Group among its regular services alongside emergency and safety support, community outreach, and transitional housing. Meeting day and time vary and are not published publicly — a common and deliberate safety practice at domestic violence agencies — so the current schedule is confirmed when you call the 24-hour hotline at (785) 843-3333. Groups are advocate-facilitated and oriented toward emotional support, safety planning, and practical navigation rather than therapy. Willow’s community advocates and rural advocates also meet with survivors one-to-one, and many people use both.
Who This Group Is For
Adults in Douglas, Franklin, and Jefferson counties who have experienced domestic violence or human trafficking. The Willow states plainly that it serves all survivors and describes itself as a safe space for survivors to regroup and rebuild. Rural residents in Franklin and Jefferson counties who cannot easily reach Lawrence should ask about rural advocacy, which brings safety planning, court navigation, and emotional support closer to home.
Why Peer Support Works
Isolation is not incidental to abuse; it is usually the mechanism. Group support directly interrupts it. Survivors in peer settings tend to recover their own judgment faster than survivors working alone, because the group supplies an external reality check that abuse spent years dismantling. The practical exchange matters too — how a protection order hearing unfolds in Douglas County District Court, which landlords will work with someone rebuilding credit, what to tell a child’s school. That knowledge lives in survivors, not in brochures.
How to Join
Call the Willow’s 24-hour hotline at (785) 843-3333 to ask about the current support group schedule and to be connected with an advocate. The administrative office is at 1920 Moodie Road, Lawrence, KS 66046. All services, including group, advocacy, court accompaniment, and shelter, are free and confidential. Service descriptions are at willowdvcenter.org.