According to the American Psychological Association, nearly one in every three adult women experiences at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood. Battered victims come in all shapes, sizes, colors and ages and from all income levels. Security systems and gated developments are no protection from this type of violence.

But victims are no longer alone. What was once a hidden family secret perpetuating a cycle of violence is now openly discussed by agencies that establish plans of action, education, resources and shelters to help those who fear the ones they love. Placer Extends A Caring Environment for Families, better known as PEACE for Families, is one of those agencies.

PEACE has been trying to solve the problem of domestic violence in Placer County for two decades. A nonprofit agency, PEACE offers shelter, counseling, crisis intervention and resources to help victims break the cycle and regain control over their lives.

"We get government funding - some of it's federal, some of it's state money," says PEACE Acting Director Ann Engelbrecht. "We also are supported by foundations and private contributors."

Intervention begins when either a victim calls in or PEACE responds to a call from authorities.

PEACE maintains a 24-hour hotline manned by crisis councilors trained in an intense and highly regulated program and certified to determine the best course of action. Both Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs), which respond to calls from victims at Auburn Faith or Sutter Roseville hospitals, and Domestic Violence Emergency Response Teams (DVERTs), which respond to domestic violence calls and usually take place in the victim's home, are handled by trained volunteers and staff members.

"We have certain protocols set up based on a task force that was created to define the protocol for domestic violence calls," says Claudia Nakata, PEACE programs manager. "So the police contact victim witness protection, which is part of the DA's office, and they contact us. The police also give out our agency card to the victims if it's safe to do that."

Nakata says that often a victim is simply not ready to head directly to a shelter. Many need to mull things over, thinking the situation will improve with time. Later, they can call the crisis line and get a crisis counselor who is trained to deal with domestic violence and sexual assault. The counselor will assess the situation over the phone for appropriateness in the shelter.

If shelter is needed, the victim and her children can live there for up to four days. After four days, the victim must decide whether to commit to the recovery program for 60 days or find some alternative. Those who have a problem with alcohol or drug addiction are able to stay in the shelter for up to six months, as long as they are seeking outpatient treatment for chemical abuse in addition to the shelter program.

The program involves both the victim and children seeing a therapist once a week. In addition, the victims have group sessions at the shelter every day, household chores and a curfew. Nakata says that expectations and strict rules are maintained to allow the women to find some control around their lives. They are also educated about the cycle of domestic violence that perpetuates in their lives.

"There is a serious program for them to follow, so we do have some who aren't ready," says Nakata. "It is an average of eight times for them to leave before they are actually really ready to leave."

The cycle of abuse is two-fold and often difficult for outsiders to understand. After an outburst of domestic violence, the abuser is often excessively kind to the victim, promising to never do it again or to seek help.

After this "honeymoon" period, tension begins to build. The abuser begins to exhibit behavior leading to the abuse, exerting excessive control, exhibiting extreme jealousy or doling out unfounded accusations. The victim becomes tense, waiting for the situation to explode, sometimes even doing little things to instigate the abuse in order to get it over with.

Eventually the tension explodes into an outburst of violence and the cycle starts again.

In the meantime, the abuser often tries to isolate the victim. By having complete control over the victim's life, the abuser cuts off ties with friends and family members.

"What happens is that if the woman is repeatedly staying in a relationship, she starts losing friends because they lose patience with her," says Nakata. "Their thought is 'Why doesn't she just leave him?' But if you've had years and years of being brainwashed to think this is all you deserve, it is not as easy to leave."

A second cycle is the generational cycle. Children who witness domestic violence often grow up thinking that the situation is normal. Boys often grow to be abusers and girls often seek out abusive relationships.

"We had a woman in the shelter recently with her children, who had been in the shelter with her mom," says Nakata. "It's so frustrating because it's that cycle that we are trying to break."

It is for this reason that the children also get counseling. Even if they are never physically impacted, even young children of domestic violence can be affected by it.

Engelbrecht tells the story of a young boy who was in the shelter recently with his mother.

"The little boy wanted to play house," she says, "and he said 'Mommy, mommy let's play house - you hide under the couch and I'll hide under the chair.' Because that's how he had played house. ... He may never have been hit, he may never have been touched by his dad, but his mom was in continual fear."

Once a victim has successfully completed the program at the shelter, she can apply for housing assistance. PEACE offers a limited number of grants to women and children or disabled women. The grants help pay for housing for up to one year. The women also have to continue with the weekly therapy and are under case management for the entire year to make sure they are on track and moving toward self-sufficiency. PEACE also provides vouchers for some household items.

In addition to these programs, PEACE offers legal assistance, counseling, peer and crisis counseling, educational workshops, court ordered supervised visitations and a slew of outreach programs.

Through the outreach program, PEACE sends speakers out into the communities, including Rocklin, Roseville and Granite Bay. They have spoken to high school students, Girl Scout troops, companies and even parent groups. Depending on the age of the audience, the speaker educates the audience on everything from the cycle of violence to dating risks to the symptoms of an abusive personality.

"It is kind of alarming," says Nakata about visits to high school students, "because when we give these talks, the questions that come up - you can tell it's prevalent in high schools."

PEACE currently maintains a shelter in the Auburn area for battered women and their children. The shelter, originally a medical facility, holds 25 beds in 10 bedrooms with a shared living space.

"It's in the greater Auburn area, but we serve the Placer county area as well as women and children from out of state who are escaping a predator or violent environment," says Engelbrecht.

PEACE recently broke ground on a new shelter that, Engelbrecht says, should be opened by the end of the year. The new facility will feature 39 beds, therapy rooms, administrative space and separate staff and client entrances.

"We are continually looking for assistance for the new shelter," says Engelbrecht. "We still need additional funding and we will, once the shelter is completed, need things to furnish the shelter - window coverings and that kind of thing."

Sleep Train President Dale Carlson of Granite Bay has agreed to donate the beds and mattress sets and local La-Z-Boys, owned by Granite Bay residents Jim and Liz Reego, have agreed to donate some furnishings for the shelter. But the shelter will need plenty more before it opens. The $3 million project was partially funded through the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program Capital Development (EHAPCD) program, which provides funding for the building of emergency shelters. Even with the forgivable loan from EHAPCD, however, Engelbrecht estimates that 50 percent of the project will be funded through private and corporate donations once it is completed.

In addition to the shelter, PEACE operates a thrift store in Auburn at the Dewitt Center and one in Roseville on Main Street.

"We encourage donations. Our housing clients are always in need of furniture, clothing and things like that," says Nakata. "We are very limited in storage space. I wish it could be as easy as people just coming and dropping things off, but they really need to call ahead."

Amazingly enough, PEACE maintains all of these programs and facilities with less than 50 people - about 25 staff members and 20 active volunteers. With limited funding, PEACE is always looking for volunteers.

"People volunteer for different reasons," says Nakata. "They have different availabilities and different life styles. Some just want to facilitate groups for us and some just want to run copies off the Xerox machine, so we try to accommodate as much as we can. The difficult part is finding the ones that will do anything."

"They really have to be passionate about our cause," adds Engelbrecht.

Serious volunteers, who want to help the victims directly, need to go through a 65-hour training program. A training session is currently in session, with the next one set for early fall.

"There is such a desperate need for these kinds of services in the community," says Engelbrecht. "Once you get involved and learn the need in the community, you get hooked. ... If you can make a difference it's just invaluable and really gives meaning to life."

"We just have to really believe that anything we do has made a difference," adds Nakata. "We do hear from children who come back years later and tell us that the therapy helped or they felt safe for the first time."