About Us

Our sole purpose to address the needs of survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

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About Us

Mission Statement

Our mission is to prevent and respond to domestic and sexual violence through inclusive, healing-centered services, education, and community engagement.

Agency Values

Understanding the Diversity of the Human Experience

We recognize, respect and understand each individual’s unique path in life with compassion and an open mind. We often reach beyond what we know, as we think outside the box to better help and empathize with another human’s personal experience. As we continue to grow and learn from each new story, we increase our capacity to help the next person who comes through the door.

Creating and Promoting Safe, Non-Violent Environments

We prioritize safety by creating emotionally and physically safe spaces within our organization through confidential, compassionate, welcoming, and trauma-informed services. We promote this approach through education, advocacy, role-modeling, and holding our community accountable in creating violence-free environments.

Engaging in and Promoting Healthy Relationships

We approach our work with the respect, safety, and honesty that everyone deserves in a relationship. We promote and model healthy relationships by practicing healthy boundaries and communication. Interactions with each other and participants are rooted in equality. We celebrate valuing ourselves as an essential component to valuing others.

Personal Responsibility

We make choices about our thoughts, actions and reactions by embracing our vulnerability and accepting feedback. We are respectful, thoughtful and honest in how we respond to the circumstances in our world.

An Environment That Promotes Learning & Growth

We promote learning and growth by creating safe spaces for participants and staff to welcome curiosity, build confidence, and learn from mistakes. This lifelong process benefits from openness to new ideas and experiences. By holding ourselves accountable, we are able to accept feedback and build personal awareness around authentic development.

Caring for Ourselves and Others

We recognize that we need to take care of ourselves in order to care for others effectively. Caring for ourselves and others means that we will use compassion and demonstrate mutual respect in our communication and interactions. We encourage the use of healthy boundaries and asking for help.

Consistent and Effective Service Delivery

Recognizing the unique history of every participant and member of our organization, we approach each situation with empathy and awareness of trauma, biases, and personal boundaries. We strive to be consistently mindful of the need to adapt our approaches to best respect these individual needs. We communicate clearly and honestly to explain our services and find the appropriate course of action for each situation.

Collaboration and Teamwork

We come to this work with a shared purpose, which is strengthened through the value of each individual perspective. Together we grow as a team through the collective responsibility of working with participants, each other, and the public. We create and maintain alliances and partnerships in order to build safer communities.

Violence Prevention

We identify the importance of preventing the occurrence of violence. We achieve this by speaking up, speaking out, and having the courage to hold ourselves and others accountable. We know that violence needs to be addressed on multiple levels and are committed to unifying and empowering our community to make change.

Healthy Communication

We strive to use thoughtful, honest communication in all our interactions with others. This means listening rather than hearing, being aware of the impact of our words, and actively participating to ensure clarity in conversations. We communicate intentionally while being mindful of any potential bias or assumptions.

History, Voice, and Expertise

We value the inextricable link between work done before us, the work we do, and work that will be done. By honoring our collective wisdom, we take responsibility for using our voice when appropriate and empowering others to speak to their own experience. As mentors to community members and to each other, we shine a light on the voices of victims and survivors.

Empowerment

We are invested in supporting positive change and helping individuals find their own truth through an active and engaged process that promotes growth and creates positive outcomes. We are committed to celebrating the transformations that people experience as a result of becoming empowered.

Commitment to Social Change

We know intimate partner violence intersects with systems and impacts people in different ways; we adapt and change to meet the unique needs of victims, survivors, and underserved communities. This requires progressive attitudes, education of ourselves and others, and a commitment to maximizing the visibility and voice of victims and survivors of abuse. Creating social change is challenging, and we are dedicated to supporting each other in this work.

Gratitude

We foster mutual trust within our community by remaining optimistic and continuously focusing on, nurturing, and strengthening our community partnerships. We celebrate growth out of adversity and humbly honor efforts to improve the human experience by reducing intimate partner violence.

Our Commitment to Cultural Responsiveness and Equity

Catalyst acknowledges the history of survivors outside of their experiences of domestic and sexual violence. We recognize trauma may be compounded by oppression including racism, police brutality, colonialism, and xenophobia. To achieve equity as an organization, we commit to having consistent, ongoing conversations that center the voices of people of color and other marginalized communities. We recognize the immediacy of addressing the ways we replicate power dynamics of oppression in our interactions with each other as we do this work. We commit to being humble and responsive when called on to recognize our gaps in knowledge and interrupt our contributions to white supremacy within our agency and in our community.

History

Supporting Survivors Since 1977

Catalyst has come a long way from its beginnings as a safe haven for women and children fleeing violent homes. Today, we are a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation administered by a dedicated board of directors. We are now the sole certified provider of crisis intervention services for all survivors of intimate partner violence and their children in Butte County, as well as survivors of sexual assault in both Butte and Glenn Counties.

In the mid-1970s, the problem of domestic violence was brought to the attention of the community of Butte County by a group of local therapists. These therapists worked with victims of domestic violence in their private practices and provided emergency shelter for them and their children in their own homes. But as the need for shelter steadily increased, they could no longer accommodate all who needed their assistance. In the fall of 1977, through the dedicated efforts of its founders, Catalyst was incorporated.

The growing demand for shelter was met through the use of “safe houses” – families who were approved through a screening process to provide a room in their own homes for women and their children fleeing from violent homes. In 1984, Catalyst became a United Way Member Agency and in 1985, with the assistance of the United Way and City of Chico, opened HAVEN, a 12 bed confidential shelter. In 1986, with the receipt of California Office of Emergency Services funding, Catalyst became the official provider of domestic violence services for Butte County.

Over the years, Catalyst’s facilities expanded to meet the growing demand. In 1990, the shelter was expanded to accommodate 17 beds, and in the spring of 1997, office space for shelter staff was added. In 2010, Catalyst opened new safe housing facilities, including a 28-bed temporary residence (HAVEN) and four transitional housing units (Cottages) for single families to reside for up to 18 months.

In 1996, with the creation of the state Maternal Child Health’s Battered Woman Shelter Program, we established our first formal prevention program which has substantially grown over the years to include a team of prevention advocates providing an array of education, outreach and prevention activities throughout the community. Catalyst has maintained a commitment to this work since the beginning.

In 2015, Catalyst increased the number of beds available to 32 in order to accommodate survivors of all genders and their children. Since that time Catalyst has expanded its housing program to include both a rapid-rehousing and a permanent supportive housing first program utilizing scattered sites in the community.

In tandem with our extensive housing program, Catalyst has a full range of supportive services for survivors of intimate partner violence and their children in Butte County and sexual assault in both Butte and Glenn Counties. These services include crisis support either via our 24-hour hotline or at our drop-in centers, therapeutic counseling, as well as assistance with the restraining order process.

In addition to our domestic violence program in Butte County, Catalyst was awarded funding in Fall 2023 to provide services to survivors of sexual assault in Butte and Glenn counties. This expansion dovetailed with our existing services and added the ability to provide hospital response and support for survivors through the forensic exam process.