Down the Rabbit Hole

In December 2023, after three decades in office and as the longest-serving member of the Texas Senate, Senator Judith Zaffirini became the first-ever woman elected as Dean of the Senate! However, this was not her first time breaking new ground, as she was also the first-ever Mexican-American woman to become a senator in Texas. Incredibly, Senator Zaffirini is also an award-winning communications s...

This podcast explores topics of homicide, intimate partner violence, abuse, and other forms of trauma. As you are listening, please do so with care and take a break if you need it. For this year’s Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month (SAAPM), we are so excited to welcome our friends from the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) onto the show for the very first time! We’re goin...

While we may focus our efforts on young people, there is support and education for survivors across the lifespan. Jamie Wright had degrees behind her name and had reared adult children by the time she found herself in crisis. Today, she is a survivor who speaks, advocating for others experiencing and recovering from domestic abuse. She joins the conversation today to share her story, along with in...

TW: This podcast explores topics of intimate partner violence, abuse, and other forms of trauma. Please listen with care. For this year’s Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, we wanted to take a closer look at social media and dating violence relationships, and how the two intersect and overlap. Today we are joined by two members of our TCFV Prevention team– Lalitha and Viv. Together with today’s...

This podcast explores topics of intimate partner violence, abuse, and other forms of trauma. If you are listening, please do so with care and step away if you need to. Welcome back to Down the Rabbit Hole and Happy New Year! To kick off 2024, we’ll be speaking about economic justice and how it pertains to immigrant survivors. We are joined by our wonderful colleague, Lauren Lluveras, who is the Im...

This podcast explores topics of homicide, intimate partner violence, abuse, and other forms of trauma. As you are listening, please do so with care and take a break if you need it.     Released in October 2023, Honoring Texas Victims (HTV) reveals Texas' intimate partner fatality statistics from 2022 and share the victims' stories. Today, we are joined by two of its compilers and TCFV Supp...

Although the holidays often are and can be a time of joy for many, they can also come with a lot of discomfort and unique challenges for survivors of domestic violence. During this episode, we are joined by Tracy Stebbins and Mickinze VanHerpen with Grayson Crisis Center. They share their insights on how to best prepare for the holiday season, support survivors, and take care of ourselves as advoc...

Join the TCFV crew as we cover various topics and how they intersect with gender-based violence. This episode will feature Deb Butts, our Finance Manager, and Ryan Thomas, our Grants Writer, as they discuss some of the basics as well as the more nuanced, and sometimes confusing, pieces of Finance and Grants within family violence programs. Federal Funding Sources for Family Violence Centers &...

This year TCFV celebrates its 45th anniversary! For today’s conversation, we are joined by TCFV’s most-tenured staff member, Maria Jose Angelelli, Director of Support to Service Providers. She has been part of the organization for 40 years, so what better person to host for our 45th birthday conversation? We talk about all about Maria’s TCFV career journey from volunteer to program director, and t...

Welcome to season four of Down the Rabbit Hole! October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), and today, October 11th, is Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day. Often healthcare workers are ill-equipped to deal with the nuances that come with treating survivors or dealing with domestic violence situations. So today, we’ve called upon Cathy Glenn to discuss the importance of educating med...

William and Samantha are excited to launch Season 4 of DTRH during this upcoming Domestic Violence Awareness Month! We'll be launching this season with a bonus episode to celebrate Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day on 10/11/23. Regular episodes will air every third Wednesday of the month, beginning 10/18/23. Come join us Down the Rabbit Hole!

Trigger Warning: This episode deals with domestic violence, survivors and offenders, and the most recent legislative session. Today, we have a very special show featuring the fabulous and fantastic Maxine LaQueene, as well as returning friends of the show, Krista and Tracie! Maxine is a drag performer, trans activist, and community leader, and her presence and voice during the recent legislative s...

Trigger Warning: This episode deals with domestic violence, survivors and offenders, and the military.    Our TCFV colleague Tabetha joins us today to explore issues of domestic violence in the military. Tabetha uses her experience and expertise in the military, as a law enforcement officer, and as a survivor advocate to compare and contrast the military response to domestic violence with civilian...

We’re celebrating PRIDE Month with Roy, Tracie, and Hannah! During this episode, we discuss how being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community has influenced each of our guests’ advocacy. Tune in to hear how each of our distinct identities have brought different experiences to our work at the TCFV and beyond. We explore what it means to create a safe space for clients and how subtle changes can illustra...

This podcast explores topics of gender-based violence and other forms of abuse. Please take care of yourself as you listen and take a break if needed.   Parenting is one of those milestones in life that once it starts, it never stops. Being a parent can be extremely difficult for a multitude of reasons. How can being involved in the movement against family violence help you be a better parent? To...

TW: This episodes covers topics relating to sexual abuse.  As April is sexual awareness month, we decided to dedicate this episode to the topic of sexual respect, specifically in the context of BIPP (Battering Intervention and Prevention Programs) groups. Audrey Hernandez and Erica Reyna-Brodhag join William and Samantha in this episode, both of whom have worked as BIPP facilitators. Sexual abuse...

Please be advised that this episode carries a trigger warning for domestic violence, religious trauma, violence in relationships, and conversations around offenders and perpetrators, and some listeners may find this upsetting. Today we welcome Reverend Gen onto the show to talk about the role of faith leaders and communities in helping survivors and promoting offender accountability. In the contex...

Please be advised that this episode carries a trigger warning for domestic violence and covers topics that some listeners may find upsetting. There are many conversations surrounding what education on domestic violence and sexual assault in schools should look like, but has anyone ever considered what the students want? February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month (TDVA...

Please note that this episode carries a trigger warning for conversations around school shootings, domestic violence, and the cultural perceptions of violence against women. There is no better way to kick off 2023 than to discuss some of the random current happenings in the media, and, while looking at these happenings, how nonprofit organizations can create an intentional, successful space on soc...

Should companies be concerned about domestic violence? What role can businesses play in addressing or responding to domestic violence? Can they play a role in violence prevention? To help us answer these questions is our new colleague Gabby Fuentes, the Public Policy Coordinator-Housing at TCFV. Please note this episode carries a trigger warning for domestic violence. In this episode, we discuss d...

Trigger warnings: domestic violence, homicide, suicide, firearms In 2021, Texas experienced its third-highest recorded number of domestic violence fatalities. Today’s guests, Sarah Hilderbrand and Mikisha Hooper, were both instrumental in the production of the 2021 Honoring Texas Victims (HTV) Report which highlights key statistics relating to domestic violence and gives a human face to the victim...

Welcome back to Down the Rabbit Hole, our first episode of season three! Today, we will be talking to the prevention team about potentially triggering topics surrounding prevention and behavioral changes. We discuss how behavioral change could be possible, why challenging belief systems is a nuanced task, why adults also need prevention education, and the false separation between prevention and in...

We are excited to announce that Season 3 is coming this month! October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) and is the perfect time for a season 3 launch. Season 3 will bring some changes... fewer episodes, longer episodes, and new voices, but as always we will be having some great conversations. We celebrate you coming back for a third season of DTRH, and if this is your first we hope you...

Welcome to the final episode of Down The Rabbit Hole Season 2! Today, Sarah and Victoria join Samantha and William in a battle royale of MSWs and MPHs (Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health)! In all seriousness, in this episode we explore the differences and similarities in the ways the public health and social work fields approach advocacy and violence prevention. Tuning in you’ll hea...

Firearms are a big topic of conversation right now in the country, particularly in Texas, and so, in today’s episode, we take a deep dive into their impact on domestic violence survivors and their communities. Joined by Mikisha Hooper and Mohini Lal , we discuss the Honoring Texas Victims Report and what it tells us about firearms and their role in domestic violence. We talk about firearm prohibit...