About Us
Our Mission
At Nicky’s House provides immediate safety, secure placement, and critical resources for individuals experiencing domestic violence during the emergency separation period.
Our mission is to bridge the vulnerable first 48–72 hours by helping individuals move quickly from crisis to safety, while connecting them with the support, resources, and next steps needed to begin rebuilding their lives.
Our Purpose
Domestic violence emergencies do not always happen according to a plan.
Sometimes separation happens suddenly.
A situation escalates.
Law enforcement becomes involved.
An individual realizes that returning to the same environment is no longer safe.
Children may need to be moved quickly.
Transportation may be needed.
A safe place may need to be secured that night—not several days from now.
And in that moment, the questions become immediate:
Where can I go tonight?
How do I get there safely?
What do I do if I have my children with me?
What if I left without my belongings?
Who can help me right now?
What happens tomorrow?
At Nicky’s House was created for that moment.
Our role is not to tell someone when to leave a relationship.
Our role is not to make decisions for them.
Our role is to provide support when an emergency separation is occurring and immediate safety is needed.
Why The First 48-72 Hours Matter
Separation from an abusive partner can be an especially dangerous period.
The danger does not necessarily end simply because an individual has physically separated from the person causing harm. In some circumstances, the loss of access or control can cause violence, threats, stalking, or other dangerous behavior to escalate.
Research into domestic-violence fatalities demonstrates why this period deserves particular attention.
77%
In a review of domestic-violence-related deaths in Hamilton County, Ohio, researchers found that 77% of victims were either separated from or considering separation from their partner at the time of their death.
Separation ranked among the highest risk factors identified in that fatality review.
48%
Separate homicide research found that, among women who were killed by a male partner in cases where leaving was the immediate precipitating factor, 48% had never previously attempted to leave.
For those women, their first attempt to leave became the point at which the fatal violence occurred.
These statistics are not presented to create fear.
They demonstrate why emergency separation should be treated as a period requiring serious safety planning, immediate resources, and rapid access to secure placement.
When separation becomes an emergency, time matters.
That is the gap At Nicky’s House was created to help address.
The Gap We Are Working to Close
There are extraordinary domestic violence organizations, shelters, advocacy programs, legal resources, transitional housing programs, and community organizations working every day to support survivors.
But accessing longer-term assistance can take time.
A shelter may not have an immediately available bed.
An individual may need transportation before they can reach available services.
Applications or assessments may need to be completed.
Longer-term housing may take time to arrange.
Someone may have left without clothing, identification, medication, toiletries, food, or other necessities.
They may have children with them.
They may be frightened, overwhelmed, exhausted, and trying to navigate multiple systems while dealing with an active crisis.
Yet the immediate question remains:
Where can I be safe right now?
At Nicky’s House is designed to help bridge the space between emergency separation and longer-term stabilization.
How We Help At Nicky’s House
During the critical first 48–72 hours, our priority is simple:
Safety First
Depending on the circumstances, available resources, and the needs of the individual, At Nicky’s House works to help coordinate access to:
Immediate Safe Placement
Helping identify temporary safe placement when an individual cannot safely remain in or return to their current environment.
Emergency Transportation
Helping coordinate transportation when getting from an unsafe situation to a secure location creates another barrier to safety.
Essential Needs
Helping address urgent necessities that may have been left behind during an emergency separation, including basic personal and emergency needs.
Domestic Violence Advocacy & Resources
Connecting individuals with organizations and advocates equipped to provide specialized domestic violence assistance.
Shelter & Transitional Housing Referrals
Helping connect individuals with available shelter, transitional housing, and longer-term placement resources.
Legal & Community Resources
Providing connections to organizations that may assist with protective orders, legal advocacy, benefits, documentation, custody-related resources, and other needs.
Longer-Term Support Connections
Helping individuals identify resources that may assist with housing, employment, financial stabilization, counseling, childcare, and other services as they determine their next steps.
We Are The Bridge
At Nicky’s House is not intended to replace domestic violence shelters, transitional housing organizations, law enforcement, legal advocates, counseling providers, or other established community resources.
Our work is designed around a specific and often overlooked window:
The time between an emergency separation and the moment longer-term resources can take over.
Through relationships with shelters, hotels and temporary accommodations, transportation providers, community organizations, advocates, service providers, and other trusted partners, our goal is to help create immediate options when time matters most.
We want an individual in crisis to have something incredibly important:
Safety.
Time.
Options.
Because once someone is physically safe, they have an opportunity to think beyond the next few hours and begin determining what comes next.
We Do Not Decide The Path Forward
Every domestic violence situation is different.
There is no single experience, timeline, or solution that applies to everyone.
At Nicky’s House does not exist to determine what an individual should do with their relationship or what their life should look like afterward.
We believe individuals deserve dignity, compassion, privacy, information, resources, and the ability to make decisions about their own future.
Our job is to help create enough safety and stability for those decisions to be made outside of the immediate emergency.
We provide the bridge.
The individual determines the path forward.
Who We Serve
Domestic violence can affect individuals across every race, income level, profession, community, age group, and gender.
At Nicky’s House is committed to supporting individuals experiencing domestic violence.
Our services and partnerships are built around dignity, compassion, privacy, safety, and respect for each person’s individual circumstances.
Because the need for safety does not belong to one demographic.
And no one should be denied an opportunity to reach safety because their experience does not fit a stereotype.
What’s Different At Nicky’s House
Our difference is our focus.
We focus on the emergency gap.
We are specifically building a system designed to respond during the critical first 48–72 hours of emergency separation.
Not months later.
Not after every application has been completed.
Not only after long-term housing has been arranged.
But during the period when the immediate concern may simply be:
“I cannot safely stay here. Where can I go?”
That is where we want At Nicky’s House to come in.
We work to help move an individual:
From immediate danger → to immediate safety.
From uncertainty → to options.
From crisis → toward stabilization.
And once that immediate emergency has been addressed, we help connect them with organizations and resources equipped to support the next phase of their journey.
Why This Work Matters
Leaving an unsafe environment should not create another crisis simply because an individual does not know where they will sleep that night.
Someone should not have to remain in danger because transportation is unavailable.
A parent should not have to decide between immediate safety and having the basic necessities their children need.
And an individual experiencing an emergency separation should not have to navigate an entire network of services alone while simultaneously trying to protect themselves.
At Nicky’s House exists to help make that first transition safer.
Because sometimes changing a life begins with something very simple:
A safe place for tonight.
Support for the next 48–72 hours.
And someone helping connect the pieces for what comes next.
Our Commitment
When emergency separation occurs, we want individuals to know there is somewhere to turn.
A place that understands that the first need may not be a five-year plan.
The first need may be safety tonight.
Then tomorrow.
Then the next step.
At Nicky’s House is committed to helping individuals navigate those first critical hours with dignity, compassion, resources, and support.
Immediate Safety. Critical Resources. A Path Forward.
At Nicky’s House.
Bridging the critical first 48–72 hours from crisis to safety.
