The sanar institutes project lighthouse will strengthen victim services and national responses to technology-facilitated abuse (TFA)

The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Victims of Crime awarded Sanar Wellness Institute, Inc. a $1 million cooperative agreement on October 1, 2025, under the Crime Victim Assistance/Discretionary Grants program (CFDA 16.582) to operate Project Lighthouse, a national initiative addressing technology-facilitated abuse.

Project Lighthouse will deliver direct victim services to adult and minor survivors of technology-facilitated abuse, including empowerment and advocacy services, individualized therapy, survivor support services, group sessions, safety planning, and emotional support. The award funds capacity-building activities for multidisciplinary professionals across service providers, child protection agencies, and law enforcement, providing evidence-informed protocols, training, and resources to enhance identification, referral, and coordinated service delivery. The project aims to increase access to trauma-conscious services, improve survivors' mental health and emotional safety, strengthen service pathways, facilitate earlier victim identification, expand system capacity, and promote collaboration among multidisciplinary stakeholders.

Sanar Wellness Institute, a tax-exempt nonprofit headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, specializes in trauma-informed victim services for vulnerable populations affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and technology-facilitated abuse. Place of performance is Newark, New Jersey. The period of performance runs through September 30, 2028.

The national-scope project will serve adult and minorsurvivors of TFA through empowerment and advocacy services, individualized therapy, survivor support services, group sessions, safety planning, and emotional support, and also equip multidisciplinary professionals (including service providers, child protection agencies, and law enforcement) with evidence-informed protocols, training, and resources to enhance identification, referral, and coordinated service delivery. As a result, the project will increase access to trauma-conscious services for survivors of TFA which will improve survivors mental health, emotional safety and trauma healing, strengthen service pathways, facilitate earlier identification of victims, expanded system capacity to serve survivors, and promote collaboration within multidisciplinary service provider stakeholders to better identify, refer, and effectively serve survivors.