Editorial: Turn of the Year
The summer’s in full swing, and everyone at Domestic Violence Resource Center is hard at work. We are summarizing the 2006-2007 program year and launching into the new 2007-2008 program year. Here is a brief overview of last year’s most important developments:
First, we completed an executive director search. Following a 10-month interim period, La Donna Burgess started with the agency as Executive Director in November 2006, just in time for the busy holiday season. A few weeks later, Amy Gettings took over the Children’s Intervention Program, and Linda Wedlake became the head of the Protective Order Advocacy Program. Almost immediately, Linda coordinated the addition of stalking order advocacy to her program.
Next, we were notified of a grant from the Oregon Community Foundation to launch a domestic violence awareness and prevention program. This allowed us to add the talents of Shanya Luther to our team as Community Outreach Coordinator. Shanya will be providing community presentations, coordinating events, and managing our volunteers. Click here for a Hillsboro Argus article about Shanya.
In addition to our staff changes, we are also excited to share we are busy improving the resource portion of Domestic Violence Resource Center. Shanya is coordinating the effort to launch a comprehensive resource/reference library for staff, interns, volunteers, clients and the community at large. Finally, we redesigned our website, adding more information and resources and expanding our online donation option.
All in all, we ended the year on a positive note! Of course, we could not have done it without you. We have increased our community support to 34% of our revenues, without a significant drop in the amount received from public sources. (A more comprehensive financial update is coming up soon!) If you’d like to join our community of supporters now, click here (we have partnered with PayPal to make donating online fast, easy, and secure).
The current program year will bring additional exciting projects, some of which we’re already working on, while others are due to be launched later in the year. We are completing the integration of our services across all locations, expanding our counseling programs (Family Violence Intervention Program for adults and Children’s Intervention Program for children) into Monika’s House Shelter. A new position at the shelter, Resident Assistance Specialist, will expand our services to shelter residents beyond their stay at Monika’s House by providing after care and follow up advocacy. We are just finishing up the remodel of our existing playrooms, one each at Monika’s House Shelter and the business office (serving Children’s Intervention Program), and adding another playroom at the business office.
Join us now in making all of this happen! Your support will send domestic violence survivors an important message: we are a community that cares.
Please take a moment now to mark your calendar for Thursday, October 4th, from 4 to 7 pm, for the 10th Candlelight Vigil. This year’s Candlelight Vigil will be bigger and better than ever. And lastly, we’ll be working with a record number of interns to continue providing and expanding our exceptional services for survivors of domestic violence.
Please check back often for updates. As always, we welcome your questions, comments or suggestions. Drop us a line here.
Thank you for your support!
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Director of Development and Communications
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