The crisis hotline at Dove House Advocacy Services rang off the hook in September, when when Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified before a U.S. Senate committee, accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

Dove House, which provides local support to survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence, saw an immediate impact.

“Our hotlines went off the charts,” Dove House Executive Director Beulah Kingsolver said. “Our sexual assault crisis numbers doubled for weeks. It was the way a lot of the country and the media treated Dr. Ford. They did what they do to victims. She was the bad person. She had to have security guards. It brought back memories (for sexual assault victims) of reasons why they didn’t tell. And then guilt comes along with that.”

For Dove House staff, that meant working double time, counseling survivors and those dealing with secondary trauma stress.

“Our staff is a little tired,” Kingsolver said. “We’re a small agency. I have 12 that see clients, and we see hundreds of people.”

After a difficult fall, staff members hope the holiday season will bring cheer, not only for their staff, but for the community. One way they plan to have an impact is with their annual adopt-a-family program, Kingsolver said.

Each winter, volunteers from across Jefferson County work with the Dove House to fulfill families’ wish lists.

“Everybody who lives in our shelter, lives in transitional housing, or has recently moved into a home and has that financial need, they fill out what we call a wish list,” Kingsolver said, adding they encourage people not to hold back when they write down their biggest wishes. “When you’ve been through a trauma, it’s really hard to dream and hope again. And it’s also about trust — trusting the human race — because domestic violence sometimes takes away your trust in the human race.”

Then, organizations and volunteers sign up to support one family, and they purchase items on those wish lists for Christmas.

Kingsolver said it can be hard for many domestic violence victims to enjoy the holidays, and financial struggles only add to the stress.

“I was so used to forgetting about myself, when I was asked to consider my own needs, I was completely caught off-guard,” one participant in the Dove House adopt-a-family program wrote in an email to Kingsolver. “The truth is still present in the room, we are still healing from trauma, but the joy is a stepping stone that can be built upon and growth feels more possible.”

Meanwhile, for the volunteers who buy gifts, the adopt-a-family program makes for a feel-good holiday activity.

“We can’t wait to receive our list from the Dove House and start shopping,” said Alysa Russell, operations manager at Skookum Contract Services, who has volunteered for the adopt-a-family program in the past. “We’re putting smiles on faces of children and easing a struggling parent’s heart and mind, knowing that, in times of crisis, people do care.”

Individuals and organizations get creative with the gifts they buy. One year, a family got a fishing set. One mom’s daughter received a guitar and lessons from Centrum. And last year, one family received gifts not just for themselves but for their dog as well.

“It renews your hope in humanity,” Kingsolver said. “There’s no way we’d have the funds to do it ourselves. We’re the manpower behind it, not the money. It is our whole community.”

Once all the gifts have been bought, Dove House holds a wrapping party. But they don’t wrap the kids gifts. Instead, they give them to the parents with wrapping paper and supplies so the moms and dads can wrap their children’s Christmas presents and place them under the tree.

“The last week before Christmas, it’s kind of like the North Pole here,” Dove House Programs Director Pat Thompson said. “There’s lots of stuff coming in and wrapping and stuff going out the door the few days before Christmas. It’s a real good feeling for us. We see the dark side of life sometimes, and this is truly bright.”