TraJa Domestic Violence Victim Services

On December 3, 2009, the unthinkable happened. Tracy Lynn Judd (33) and her beautiful 23-month-old daughter Deja Renee were both brutally murdered by Tracy’s boyfriend/Deja’s father in what is still known today as Dane Counties (Wisconsin) most brutal quadruple domestic violence homicide in history. He also murdered his other 2 1/2year old daughter and her mother that same day before killing himself.

Tracy’s sister/Deja’s Aunt (Lisa Blanchard) and Tracy’s childhood friend (Heather Lawler) developed TraJa Inc Domestic Violence Victims Services, a non-profit organization in Wisconsin.

For the past 12 years, TraJa has been running mainly to raise awareness of the serious effects domestic violence has on our society. During these past 12 years, Lisa and Heather have been contacted by numerous victims and families to assist in domestic violence situations, including safety planning and other assistance. In these 12 years, we have discovered how traditional services available in our state are not always the ideal resource for an astonishing number of victims trying to remain safe. TraJa’s founders have also heard from so many victims of how traditional services have either turned them away or let them down in one way or another. This has got to change and for us, NO VICTIM WILL EVER BE TURNED AWAY FROM HELP!

Lisa and Heather have developed TraJa into an underserved Domestic Violence Victims Service Organization where they devote their time to mobile advocacy. Mobile advocacy is a much more approachable resource for victims who do not have the means of making the first steps of reaching out to traditional services by going to a local agency. These obstacles may be transportation, embarrassment, financial means, or many other reasons. TraJa removes those obstacles by going to their victims. In order to serve these victims, we need more than just a listening, knowledgeable advocate. The emergency needs by our victims consist of the following:

• Cell phones – sometimes abusers have controlled these means by having their victims on their plans so when the victim escapes the abuser shuts off their phone, another way to control their victim

• Security Cameras – sometimes when victims have reported their abusers to law enforcement, the idea of them getting out of jail and actually following a no-contact order can be quite overwhelming for the victim so we provide security cameras for them, and in some situations, we have monitored these cameras

• Emergency stays – sometimes a victim needs to leave a very dangerous situation and shelters may be full, or they cannot reach them so we can provide hotel vouchers to keep them safe for a night or two until we can find alternative safe means for them

• Gas Cards – sometimes victims who have fled an abusive situation need the financial means to make it to a relative's home, a great distance away, or they have no means to put gas in their vehicle because their abuser usually controls all the finances.

• Clothing- sometimes our victims leave with nothing but the shirt on their back so we can provide a few items to get them through the next few days while working with them on a safety plan to move forward.

• Security Deposits/First Months Rent/Moving Vehicle- sometimes our victims need to do this sooner rather than later and time is not on their side.

• Emergency Needs – our ability to provide things sometimes is unique to the individual and it's not on our list of items we regularly provide.

TraJa provides services free of charge to our victims and NEVER asks for money in return for any service. The reality is that it costs money to provide items and most times it may not be items they need but for the advocate to stand by them every step of the way. This only can happen when administration finances are available for our organization. TraJa Domestic Violence Victim Services' main focus has been victims, so the start-up funds are slow coming and we need assistance now. We hope reading this has touched your heart like it touches ours each time we see a victim smile who never thought that would happen again. In 12 years, we have helped over hundreds of victims and now it's time to DO MORE!

Help us today help a “Victim” become a “Survivor”!!!!