Amidst an increase in domestic violence reports and budget concerns, one nonprofit ventures forth to assist those in need.
Domestic Violence and Abuse Protection Inc. (DVAP), a non-profit organization providing key solutions for victims and families of victims, and the elderly and those affected by child abuse, has used a recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation to expand its work.
“The grant was helpful right away,” said Jeffrey Lee, DVAP’s CEO. “The resources acted as a direct response to the DEI restrictions that the government placed. We were pretty limited because of that. The grant opened things up for us because we couldn’t get access to other grants that hire people, and we needed to get things done.”
To that end, the nonprofit was able to hire more people to strengthen its impact. But Lee remains a shrewd observer of the changing times and over the last year, was surprised about an alarming rise in domestic violence incidents.
“I have noticed a serious uptick, and a lot more gun violence,” he said. “Recently, we had a case where a man blew up his girlfriend’s car in Riverside. That brings in a lot of organizations, including the fire marshal and the police department.
“Overall, I’ve seen more killing, more deputies, and more police officers,” he added. “And certainly, statistically, with our organization, we’ve been getting more calls for home protection than we ever did before.”
DVAP works with victims of restraining order violations. It also teams up with other domestic violence advocacy groups, offering an alternative resource for safety for individuals whose protection has been violated.
In addition, DVAP also offers myriad services—from child abuse protection and child visitation overwatch to elder abuse protection, court accompaniment, process serving, and security consultation.
Lee said that DVAP partners with security contractors that provide professional physical security at no cost to victims of violence, abuse, and stalking. In this way, victims and families of victims can feel protected in their own homes.
Protection orders are enforced by DVAP’s trained yet uniformed professionals. These individuals can alert local law enforcement of violators and also provide physical security to prevent further further incidents, such as injury or death.
“There’s nothing else like us out there,” Lee said. “We’re the only organization that does what we do. And when someone gets a restraining order, that’s just a piece of paper and these offenders have learned that. It takes a while for police to get there. So, they’re not afraid. They can go do whatever harm they feel like doing, knowing they can get out of there before the police arrive.”
Many people on DVAP’s staff are combat veterans who have become licensed and permitted to do the work.
“I call them stress inoculated,” Lee said. “They do not rattle and they know what they’re doing. They’re very good at de-escalation.
“Instead of an offender showing up and suddenly that victim is open to whatever they want to do, those offenders will run into the guys we provided for protection,” he added. “We fill in that gap between a restraining order being issued and when the police can arrive.”
The genesis of the organization is personal to Lee. More than a decade ago, he was overseas when he was contacted by his daughter in the states.
“She had problems with her boyfriend at the time and I advised her to get a restraining order, and she said, ‘I have one, and he’s not afraid. He doesn’t care,’” Lee shared. “That’s when DVAP was literally born because I started working on it right away. It took us six years to develop and to get all the permitting, licensing, and insurance required to provide the service.
“It took a long time,” he added, “but it’s worth it because I get to do the mission that we set out to do.”
Learn more at dvapriverside.org.
This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, June 2026.
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