La Casa de las Madres Marks 50 Years of Saving Lives in San Francisco

Mayor Daniel Lurie, Board of Supervisors leaders, and survivors gathered at City Hall to celebrate five decades of one of the Bay Area's first full-service domestic violence (DV) shelters — and to send a clear signal that the city intends to protect more than $10 million in annual gender-based violence funding even as San Francisco navigates a budget crisis.

• La Casa de las Madres celebrates 50 years as one of the Bay Area's earliest domestic violence shelters, with City Hall ceremony drawing the mayor, supervisors, SFPD chief and state AG representative

• Lurie reaffirms $10M+ annual investment in gender-based violence prevention and announces pending state legislation to strengthen survivor protections

• Supervisor Myrna Melgar discloses her own DV survivor story, adding personal weight to the Board's support for continued services

• Survivor's dramatic 1976 rescue — wheeled out of a hospital hidden in a laundry bin — illustrates La Casa's life-saving origins

• State data underscores lethal stakes: DV incidents involving a firearm are 12 times more likely to result in death

The basics: La Casa de las Madres was founded in 1976 by a group of women who believed no one should have to choose between staying in a violent home and having nowhere to go. It has since grown into a citywide network providing shelter, legal aid, job access and advocacy to thousands of domestic violence (DV) survivors annually.