Survivor Link strengthens domestic violence support

By Devon Dams-O’Connor

Listen, learn and pass it on. That’s the simple premise for handling a complex topic at the core of Survivor Link, a program that aims to build support networks for survivors of domestic violence by training social work students, who then share valuable knowledge with community organizations to help them better serve survivors and their families.

Survivor Link is a partnership between AmeriCorps and Arizona State University with 20 additional sites around the country, including here at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work.

For the 2024-2025 academic year, yearlong Survivor Link fellowships were open to second-year MSW students, who received training from scholars and domestic violence agencies. Using that knowledge, the students provided at least three training sessions for staff at their practicum sites, shared local resources for domestic violence intervention and helped the organizations build capacity to respond to domestic violence in their communities.

Noelle M. St. Vil, associate professor in the School of Social Work, brought the Survivor Link program to UB after being asked by the program’s founder at Arizona State University to deliver a guest lecture on intimate partner violence in the Black community. She felt the program offered School of Social Work students a strong foundation in an important topic, with flexibility to customize the program to pursue their particular areas of interest.

“Survivor Link trainings allow students to learn the basics of domestic violence, including red flags to watch for, prevalence rates and what DV looks like in different communities,” says St. Vil. “From there, students have the choice to take a deeper dive into specific populations, interventions, the different groups and organizations that are doing work in this area, or even advocacy and policy.”

Survivor Link student training was delivered through live virtual seminars and recorded sessions, giving students flexibility to access content on their schedule. Sessions were taught by professors and experts in the field from across the country, offering a variety of experiences and perspectives.

In addition to sharpening their acumen as social workers, participants earned a stipend and tuition assistance award for completing 450 service hours, which fit within the 480 service hours already required as part of students’ Advanced Year practicum. The stipend, says St. Vil, addresses financial need as most full-time students can’t work during their MSW program. The compensation also underscores the value and appreciation for students’ time, work and service in the program.

Epiphany Adams, MSW ’25, was part of the first cohort to participate in the program at UB. Her interest in Survivor Link stemmed from personal and family experiences with domestic violence, and she was especially curious to learn how experiences differ in other communities.

“I spent time learning how intimate partner violence is similar and different in the Black maternity experience, in Native American communities and in the LGBTQ community from people who were working with these folks directly in the field,” she said. “I learned how to tailor and personalize trainings based on who we were talking to and where they might be coming from.”

Adams’s MSW practicum site couldn’t accommodate the trainings, but she found a willing audience at her campus internship with the UB Intercultural and Diversity Center (IDC). There, students and staff were inquisitive, engaged and wanted to learn more about how to help campus peers who might be experiencing domestic violence.

“The students pointed out that intimate partner violence, especially, is a topic that’s not discussed as undergrads, though people experience it,” she said. “The trainings led to deep discussions about domestic violence in the Black and Hispanic communities, the cultural perspectives and personal experiences that dictate how we naturally react to it, and how we could better support students of color served by the center should they need it in the future.”

Adams will begin the PhD in Social Welfare program at Stony Brook University in the fall but has offered to continue to provide virtual training sessions to student groups through IDC in the future. She is also pursuing more speaking opportunities on the topic of domestic violence through Harlem Grown, a youth urban farming and sustainability program she participated in growing up.

Nationally, the Survivor Link program has trained nearly 400 social work students to respond to intimate partner violence, and they, in turn, have trained practitioners at more than 500 agencies, according to Jill Messing, who founded the program at Arizona State University. Unfortunately, however, Survivor Link will not continue for the 2025-2026 academic year, due to federal AmeriCorps funding cuts.