DAWN is a trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and transformative justice-based agency that provides multifaceted services to survivors and the broader community. We offer direct services and education that address power-based violence.
DAWN’s mission is to promote healthy relationships and reduce abuse within the Deaf community in the Washington, DC area. We emphasize that all forms of violence are intersectional. In working with survivors who hold multiple identities, we recognize that both individuals and society can diminish a person’s right to safety and autonomy.
At DAWN, we intentionally reflect on our work to ensure that we do not reinforce oppression—particularly by dismissing or minimizing the intersectional identities of Deaf survivors.
DAWN is committed to promoting healthy relationships and reducing violence in the Deaf community by acknowledging how power, control, and systemic oppression contribute to violence against Deaf people of all identities. Through this mission, survivors are supported in living their lives with dignity and self-worth.
In 1999, five Deaf women from the Washington metropolitan area founded DAWN (doing business as Deaf Abused Women’s Network) in order to end domestic violence/sexual violence (DV/SV) in the Deaf community. In the fall of 2003, DAWN officially opened its doors and began to provide direct support services to women and their families in the Deaf community.
Over the past 20 years, DAWN has served hundreds of Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind survivors who have experienced domestic violence, sexual violence, bullying, and stalking.
Today, DAWN continues to serve women in the Deaf community, but has broadened its reach to serve Deaf male, non-binary, and female survivors across all demographics including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) communities. DAWN is a Deaf-run, community-based, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing direct services and educating the community about domestic violence and sexual violence.
We will be forever indebted to our five founders:
(She/Hers)
(She/Hers)
(She/They)
(She/Hers)
(She,Hers, Ella)
| Alex Leffers (he/him/his) | Carlene Thumann-Prezioso (she/her/hers) |
| DeAnna Swope (she/her/hers) | Jadzia Ingram (she/her/hers) |
| Kristina/Kris Marie Balao Miranda (siya/all pronouns) | Maegan “Meg” Shanks (she/her/hers) |
| MJ Jones (they/siya) | saint Hardy (they/them) |
| Sean Norman (he/his/him) | Shilpa H. Lacy (she/her/hers) |
| Terese Rognmo (she/her/hers) | Topher Ávila (él/he/elle/they) |
“Compassion without accountability is collision; accountability without compassion is domination."
(She/Hers)
“Low barriers. Full accessibility. One goal.”
(She/Hers)
“To be safe is to be seen. To be seen is to begin healing. To heal is to reclaim hope."
(She/They)
“Life is about changing and growing.”
(She/Hers)
“Take one day at a time.”
(She,Hers, Ella)
Email:
info@deafdawn.org
Address:
1140 3rd St NE 2nd fl
Washington DC 20002
Phone:
202 559 5366
Emergency Hotline:
hotline@deafdawn.org
(Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm EST)
© Copyright by DAWN 2026