Stand up for survivors: Demand Congress restore grant funding
We applaud the more than 100 bipartisan members of Congress who last week called on the U.S. attorney general to restore funding for programs that support survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. We're now urging both Montana’s senators to lead the charge in the Senate.
“The sudden withdrawal of these funding opportunities threatens to disrupt essential services, jeopardize the stability of victim assistance programs, and undermine the bipartisan commitment to combating these forms of violence,” the members wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday, referring to the Department of Justice (DoJ) removing grant information from the Office of Violence Against Women’s (OVW) website in February. “We ask that the Department clarify its plans to rectify this situation and ensure that OVW grant funding is fully restored without further delay to continue providing care to survivors of domestic violence.”
What’s at stake
At issue are OVW grants worth tens of millions of dollars each year – money appropriated by Congress just three years ago to help survivors seek refuge from abusive partners, and to support survivors navigating complicated legal systems. Funding opportunities were deleted from the OVW page in early February.
Screengrab of the OVW website. Updated Feb. 6, 2025; accessed April 28, 2025.
DoJ removed the grants following a recommendation from the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an executive-branch agency led by Elon Musk.
About 30 percent of Haven’s budget comes from federal grants like these. Translated directly to the number of survivors we serve every year, cuts would mean Haven would have to turn away about 400 survivors in Gallatin County every year.
What Haven is doing
In Montana, Sen. Steve Daines was responsive when we raised this issue with his staff in February, for which we are grateful. Haven is now urging him and Sen. Tim Sheehy to lead the charge in the Senate to fully restore funding.
Haven has signed on to regional and local letters from DV groups calling for grants to be restored.
How you can help
You can help. Stand with Haven and survivors across Montana and the nation.
Call the members of our Congressional delegation and tell them you expect them to restore all Congressionally appropriated funding for domestic violence survivors in Montana and nationwide.
Phone numbers for contacting Montana’s senators and representatives:
Sen. Steve Daines: (202) 224-2651
Sen. Tim Sheehy: (202) 224-2644
Rep. Ryan Zinke: (202) 225-5628
Rep. Troy Downing: (202) 225-3211
Get involved locally:
Volunteer with Haven.
Support our work by joining the Hope Collective or making a one-time donation.
Support other nonprofits in the Gallatin Valley later this week during Give Big Gallatin Valley.