Equinox is Albany County’s primary provider of services for victims of domestic violence. All services are confidential, free of charge, and available to all, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.
Our mission is to:
- Offer safety, choices, and support to victims of domestic violence;
- Protect the right of each victim to a life free from abuse;
- Provide education and information to increase community awareness; and
- Collaborate with other agencies to develop a coordinated responseto domestic violence.
In doing this work, we believe that:
- Everyone has a right to feel safe, especially within one’s family and home.
- Victims of domestic violence are not to blame for the violence.
- People who threaten or hurt their partners seek power and control. Abusive behavior is not an expression of love.
- We cannot generalize about an individual’s own experience. Characteristics and needs of each victim are unique.
- Change isn’t easy, but it is possible.
Services
24-hour Hotline: (518) 432-7865 
All calls are confidential
Information, support, and/or shelter
Collect calls accepted
Safe Shelter
Housing victims and dependent children at confidential location
Stay up to 90 days
24-hour staff and support
Individual Counseling
For victims and their children
Support Groups
Weekly drop-in group
Variety of innovative and specialized groups for survivors
Advocacy and Assistance
Courts - Family and Criminal
Links with law enforcement
Child Protective Services
Social services
Links with local, county, state, and federal government services
Legal Service Referrals
For low-cost or no-cost representation in domestic violence cases
Crime Victims Compensation Assistance
Elder Abuse Services
Specialized counseling and case management, including safe shelter
Community education and training
LGBTQ Victim Services
Specialized counseling and advocacy, including safe shelter
Community education and training
Project Break Free Transitional Housing Program
For victims who are transitioning from domestic violence shelter
Case management and counseling
Housing and transportation subsidies
Education and training for lay and professional audiences
911 Cell Phone Distribution Program
Distribute cell phones to victims for emergency use
Accept donated cell phones for 911 use
Participation in Coordinated Community Responses to Domestic Violence
Albany County Coalition Against Domestic Abuse
District Attorney’s Advisory Committee
Capital Region Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Albany County Coalition on Homelessness
Elder Abuse Task Force
Campus Response to Violence Against Women
Protect Your Privacy and Safety Online
Computer technology can put your privacy and safety at risk. Computer hard drives can record every action taken on the computer and Internet, and it is virtually impossible to completely erase these "foot prints." Even if your abuser is not an expert at computers, your activities can be easily traced.
If you think you may be monitored on your home computer, consider using a computer at a public library, community technology center, Internet café, or the home of a trusted friend.
Other precautions you can take include the following:
- Never share your email passwords. However, if you believe your abuser knows your password, before changing it, consider whether that may cause more danger by arousing suspicion.
- Passwords should be difficult to figure out. Never use birth dates, street addresses, familiar names, etc.
- Consider having more than one email account so that you have an alternative if your abuser forces you to close an account.
- Ask friends and family not to share your new email addresses.
- Never register personal information, such as your address or phone number, when you sign up for email accounts.
- Emails from your abuser can provide excellent evidence in a court case. Consider saving these emails even if you don't have a case pending, so they are available if you ever need them.
Campus Response to Violence Against Women Project
Equinox partnered with local colleges, advocacy groups, and law enforcement agencies to organize the Campus Response to Violence Against Women Project. This initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, is designed to address violence against women on college campuses. This includes dating violence, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
The goal of the project is to establish a culture on campus where:
- Violence against women is not tolerated,
- Victims are supported and empowered, and
- Offenders are sanctioned.
A full-time program coordinator and a part-time advocate help victims get counseling, peer support, and assistance as they interact with the justice system. Representatives from each collaborating agency* meet monthly to review, modify and/or create consistent policies, procedures, and protocols related to campus violence and develop mechanisms to ensure compliance.
* Participating agencies: College of Saint Rose, Siena College, Albany School of Law, Albany County Crime Victims and Sexual Violence Center, The Legal Project, Albany County District Attorney’s Office, the City of Albany Police Department, and Colonie Police Department.
