District supports Mothers' Convalescence Centre and "Frauen helfen Frauen e.V."
First District Councillor and responsible department head Karl-Friedrich Frese, together with the Women's and Equal Opportunities Department, had invited the women's counselling centre to the Korbach district hall for a very pleasant event. He presented the Mothers' Convalescent Home and the association "Frauen helfen Frauen" ("Women help women"), which runs the women's counselling centre and the LautStark specialist counselling centre, with funding decisions for considerable financial support. The Müttergenesungswerk was delighted to receive 20,000 euros, while "Frauen helfen Frauen e. V." received 30,000 euros for the LautStark specialist counselling centre and 15,000 euros for the women's counselling centre.
"The total of 65,000 euros is money well spent," emphasised the First District Councillor and Women's and Equal Opportunities Officer Beate Friedrich when handing over the grant. Whether supporting mothers, fathers or families, prevention measures against sexual violence against children and young people or protection in cases of domestic violence against women, the grant-recipient institutions fulfil an invaluable function in our society. There was therefore no question for the district of maintaining the support it has provided for many years in 2024 and not cancelling it with reference to a difficult budget situation, as is unfortunately currently the case in many other districts or municipalities.
"We could have sent the funding certificates by post, but we made a conscious decision to invite the representatives of the grant recipients to this ceremonial handover," added Frese. In doing so, the district not only wanted to say thank you for their valuable work, but above all to emphasise its appreciation of the institutions' commitment. The public should also be made more aware of what is being achieved by the subsidised organisations. After all, the preventative measures could in many cases prevent those affected from being granted benefits in accordance with the German Social Code, having to make use of the social welfare system and ultimately placing a greater burden on the general public.
Mothers' convalescence
Since 2016, the counselling centre for mothers' convalescence at the Diakonisches Werk Waldeck-Frankenberg has been supported by a cooperation between the district, the Caritasverband Brilon and the Diakonisches Werk. The cooperation became necessary because the Diakonisches Werk was no longer able to run the advice centre independently for financial reasons.
Frauen helfen Frauen e. V., counselling centre LautStark
Since 2015, "Frauen helfen Frauen e.V." Waldeck-Frankenberg has been running the specialist counselling centre LautStark, which is aimed at combating sexual violence against children and young people. The counselling centre is financed by municipal funds from the state and the association's own funds. LautStark offers counselling for affected children, young people and their relatives as well as prevention and training events for educational professionals in Waldeck-Frankenberg.
The protection of children from sexual violence is a cross-sectional task in which other stakeholders are involved alongside LautStark, including the specialist youth service, the district's educational counselling centre and school psychologists. Employees of the LautStark counselling centre provide advice to professionals from youth welfare offices, schools, kindergartens and youth welfare facilities and offer support and further training.
The pandemic-related increase in the number of cases between 2020 and 2022, in particular, put considerable financial pressure on the supporting association. In order to be able to maintain the counselling service, a financial contribution from the district was necessary. An increase in the subsidy to 40,000 euros is planned for 2025.
Women's advice centre
Since its establishment in 1993, the women's advice centre has developed into a central point of contact for women who experience domestic violence or need support in separation, divorce and other stressful situations. Against the background of increasing numbers of cases of domestic violence, which are documented both by the police statistics of the state of Hesse and by the counselling centre, the women's counselling centre plays an important role in the help offered to affected women and families in the district. In order to ensure the long-term continuation of the women's counselling and intervention centre, the district has increased its subsidy from 7,640 euros to 15,000 euros.