{"id":211464,"date":"2026-06-05T11:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T11:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/211464\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T11:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T11:43:08","slug":"dish-it-up-for-women-against-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/211464\/","title":{"rendered":"Dish It Up for Women Against Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Each year, the Philadelphia-based nonprofit Women Against Abuse<\/a> helps more than 10,000 people navigate the challenges of domestic violence.<\/p>\n

Their shelters provide a home for people escaping intimate partner violence and their children; their legal centers help people seeking protection and child custody orders navigate the court system; and their hotline, operated in partnership with Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Lutheran Settlement House and Women in Transition, provides free, confidential crisis support.<\/p>\n

They do all this while lobbying policymakers to increase protections and support for survivors of domestic violence and hosting educational sessions to teach people the signs of intimate partner violence. Last year, they trained 3,749 people in effective responses to intimate partner violence and teen dating dynamics, including 565 young people, who learned about how to build healthy relationships.<\/p>\n

The work they do is critical and it requires financial support to pay staff members, support the legal center, and in general keep the lights on.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, we all know someone who has been impacted by domestic violence,\u201d says Joanna Otero-Cruz, executive director and president of Women Against Abuse. \u201cEveryone has a personal story and no one\u2019s story of rebuilding their life is the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"High Street pastry chef Kate Hughes (center). <\/p>\n

That\u2019s why on June 11 Women Against Abuse is hosting its 18th annual Dish It Up<\/a> fundraiser, for which The Citizen is a media sponsor. . The culinary event honors the accomplishments of Philadelphia\u2019s women chefs \u2014 who can face discrimination in a male-dominated profession \u2014 while raising funds to support Women Against Abuse\u2019s operations. Their goal is to raise $250,000 this year.<\/p>\n

The event, held in the Wannamaker Building\u2019s Crystal Tea Room, will kick off with a VIP reception at 5pm, before the doors open to general admission guests at 6pm. It will feature interactive food stations, a lively chef competition and plenty of opportunities for guests to network with one another. Guests will also be able to print their own t-shirts and tote bags at a screenprinting station.<\/p>\n

This year, in honor of the organization\u2019s 50th anniversary, the event will have a 70s theme. Think: disco balls, flower power decor, and a dose of history. There will be a timeline set up, so guests can see how Women Against Abuse grew from a single shelter, operating out of a row home in 1976, to two 100-bed safe haven houses, a legal aid center and more. The exhibit will include black-and-white photos from the organization\u2019s early days, artifacts from the original shelter and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cFifty years is a lot to celebrate,\u201d Otero-Cruz says. \u201cIt\u2019s the affirmation that we need to keep charting our way forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Repping Cry Baby Pasta at the event. <\/p>\n

The main event is the chef competitions. Fourteen women chefs in Philadelphia, including James Beard Award-winner Cristina Mart\u00ednez<\/a>, James Beard Award Nominee and 2025 Best of Philly winner<\/a> Justine MacNeil of Fiore and Kate Hughes, the pastry chef behind Fork and High Street, will be serving up sweet and savory dishes for attendees and a panel of judges.<\/p>\n

Otero-Cruz says they try to have \u201ca little bit for everyone,\u201d when picking the chefs. They have some who specialize in vegan and gluten free options, to help make the event inclusive and they try to represent an array of different cuisines, including Italian, Peruvian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Filipino, and Japanese this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a foodie, if you like to network, have a good time, and meet like-minded people while supporting a great cause, you need to be there,\u201d Otero-Cruz says.<\/p>\n

The 2026 judges are Kiki Aranita, creator of Poi Dog Sauces and food writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer; Bridget Foy, co-owner of the restaurant Bridget Foy\u2019s in Society Hill and co-founder of Cry Baby Pasta; food influencers Christina Mitchell and Josh Moore; and Kae Lani Palmisano, Philadelphia magazine\u2019s food editor and host of WHYY\u2019s Check, Please! Philly and PBS Food\u2019s Delishtory.<\/p>\n

In keeping with the 70s theme, the event will conclude with an after party, celebrating the organization\u2019s 50th Anniversary, from 9 to 10pm. It\u2019ll bring attendees together to dance under a disco ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese events are really powerful too, because we can\u2019t do this work alone,\u201d Otero-Cruz says.<\/p>\n

Women Against Abuse\u2019s Dish It Up will take place on Thursday, June 11 from 6 to 9pm at the Crystal Tea Room in the Wanamaker Building, 100 E .Penn Square, 9th Floor. General admission tickets are $150 and young professional tickets (for guests 35 years and younger) are $75.<\/p>\n

\"\" MORE THINGS TO DO THE CITIZEN RECOMMENDS<\/p>\n

Photo by Jose Rodriguez. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each year, the Philadelphia-based nonprofit Women Against Abuse helps more than 10,000 people navigate the challenges of domestic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5835,69,71,70,9511,10095],"class_list":["post-211464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-domestic-violence","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-the-citizen-recommends","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}