Participants were interviewed after leaving a Midwest shelter program for women with abusive partners. Women were eligible for the study if they had spent at least one night in the shelter and planned on staying in the general vicinity for the first 3 months after leaving the shelter. The selected women were informed that half of them would be randomly selected to receive free advocacy services for the first 10 weeks after leaving the shelter, amounting to 4 to 6 hours per week. Of the 278 women who participated in the program, 143 received advocacy services, and the members of the control group were not contacted again until their next interview 10 weeks later. The services focused on the strengths and unmet needs of the women. In response to each unmet need identified, each woman and her advocate worked to generate or mobilize appropriate community resources. As part of their first interview, all women were asked to identify which of the following needs they planned to be working on in the coming 10 weeks: housing, education, employment, transportation, legal assistance, health care, social support, financial assistance, material goods and services, child care, and issues for their children. Women were also asked whether they had any other needs not mentioned in the list. At the second interview, which was conducted 10 weeks later, women were asked to indicate which of the 11 needs they had worked on since their first interview. Effectiveness in obtaining resources was assessed. Cluster analysis identified five distinct subgroups of survivors. One focused on acquiring housing; a second worked more on education and employment; a third spent more time on legal issues; and two groups indicated varying levels of activity in the pursuit of a variety of needs (high-intensity and low-intensity groups). The findings thus indicate that comprehensive and individualized approaches to advocacy for battered women are essential for the effective pursuit and use of community resources that can improve their well-being. 1 figure, 2 tables, and 37 references