OhanaLink App Aids Domestic Violence Victims

HERMITAGE, Pa. – OhanaLink Technologies adapted its proprietary communication and support platform in 2022 to include a focus on mobile technology custom designed for the social care market.

After debuting mobile technology in 2019 that connected family and friends during health care events, OhanaLink has expanded its capabilities to include agencies and organizations providing support for victims facing domestic abuse.

In May, the company launched OhanaLink Purple, which safely connects domestic-violence service providers to clients and victims. The providers supply life-saving resources, information and services through the use of a disguised access point on a victim’s cellphone and secure browser.

Lizette Olsen, executive director of Mercer County Aware, a victims’ services organization, saw the value of OhanaLink’s technology and asked if the platform could be adapted to help advocates and victims of domestic abuse.

Olsen connected OhanaLink with six western Pennsylvania agencies to understand the challenges facing domestic-violence advocates and victims.

“Meeting victims where they are – on their mobile devices – is absolutely critical,” Kara Wasser, OhanaLink’s founder and CEO, says. “The data is shocking. One in three women and one in four men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. As the numbers increase, the need for safe technology also increases.”

OhanaLink plans to expand its portfolio of partnerships to more effectively connect organizations with their clients on smartphones.

In addition to working with business incubators to accelerate its growth and expand investor opportunities, OhanaLink is securing partnerships with nationally recognized organizations that provide information and resources to domestic violence programs and individuals in abusive situations.

In November, OhanaLink announced its partnership with DomesticShelters.org, which offers a mobile searchable directory of domestic-violence programs and shelters in the United States and Canada.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.