In This Issue:
Anna’s Courage: Finding Safety, Self-Worth, and Getting Her Children Back
Century High School Senior Project encourages local middle schoolers and high schoolers to speak out for their rights
Champion Restaurant Tour TODAY through June 24th
Thank You to Spirit Mountain Community Fund
Fond Farewell to Departing Protective Order Advocacy Program Director Linda Wedlake
Promote your business as a champion of survivors of domestic violence!
Strawberry Shortcake Fundraiser Draws $1600 for Monika’s House
Anna’s Courage: Finding Safety, Self-Worth, and Getting Her Children Back
Anna arrived at shelter in February of this year. She had been living with her husband for 12 years who physically and emotionally abused her. He would beat her with closed fist, resulting at one time in a broken nose and ribs. Anna still suffers permanent damage to her hip due to his abuse. Anna has survived devastating cruelty, and consequently experiences severe depression and anxiety.
DHS became involved, and Anna came to Monika’s House Shelter to keep her three children (all under the age of 12) and herself safe. Anna was very depressed by the time she arrived at Monika’s House. She told staff that she felt like she wanted to die.
Anna asked staff to help her and staff took her to a hospital. Unfortunately, during this time DHS took away her children, and they were put in foster care. This was devastating to Anna.
Despite the heartbreaking journey Anna took to Monika’s House Shelter, Anna touched all of the staff with her resilience and will to succeed.
Staff at Monika’s House assisted Anna in getting services she needed, including securing housing, legal assistance, individual counseling, children’s support & counseling, and case management for a year. With Anna’s desire to have a better life for her and her children she was able to get her self healthy, and got her kids back.
It’s now the start of June and Anna is in a safe place of her own and reunited with her children. Despite having to contend with domestic violence and its aftermath, she is facing her many challenges with courage and finally rebuilding her sense of self-worth.
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Help us to make sure survivors like Anna can receive free services and achieve their goals. Please make a quick and secure online donation. Thank you for your support! We depend on the community to continue to provide free and bilingual services to all survivors of domestic violence.
Century High School Senior Project encourages local middle schoolers and high schoolers to speak out for their rights
Kathryn Teach, H.S. senior, empowers students to have safe and healthy relationships
Century High School students in Hillsboro, OR, shout out that they have the right to have safe and healthy relationships, thanks to Kathryn Teach and her senior project (youtube link). Kathryn worked with a Masters-level Domestic Violence Resource Center counseling intern to research domestic and dating violence.
Kathryn showed this inspiring video she made featuring her fellow students in tandem with a presentation to two different local middle schools to teach students about domestic violence and dating violence. She then had the students take a survey: 9 out of 10 students said that it was more meaningful to them and that they were more likely to learn and listen because a teenager presented the information, rather than an adult. 9 out of 10 students also said that they didn’t feel that they received the respect they deserved in their lives.
The survey response makes sense when you consider that approximately 1 in 5 female high school students report being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner. 81% of parents surveyed either believe teen dating violence is not an issue or admit they don’t know if it’s an issue. No wonder many teens feel like their concerns won’t be taken seriously. 83% of 10th graders surveyed at the 4th Annual Teen Dating Abuse Summit reported that they would sooner turn to a friend for help with dating abuse than to a teacher, counselor, parent or other caring adult. Only 33% of teens who were in an abusive felationship ever told anyone about the abuse. (References, studies, and more statistics can be found here.)
7% of female and 67% of male high school students endorse some form of sexual coercion, including unwanted kissing, hugging, genital contact, and sexual intercourse. 50% of youth reporting both dating violence and rape also reported attempting suicide, compared to 12.5% of non-abused girls and 5.4% of non-abused boys. Violent relationships in adolescence can have serious ramifications for victims: many will continue to be abused in their adult relationships and are at a higher risk for substance abuse, eating disorders, risky sexual behavior, and suicide.
Are you a high schooler or middle schooler? Remember that you have rights! And so do your friends—support them by reminding them that they deserve to be treated with respect. You’re one of the most important voices in their lives. Learn more about the warning signs of dating violence here.
Champion Restaurant Tour TODAY through June 24th
Support Survivors by Eating Out at Area Restaurants
The following Washington County restaurants have stepped up as champions for survivors of domestic violence!
Eat at any of the following establishments on the given time with a flyer and a portion of your purchase will be donated to the Domestic Violence Resource Center. Please remember that without a flyer the restaurant cannot donate to our cause. Don’t have a printer? Let us know and we’ll mail you as many flyers as you need! Just call Sarah at 503-640-5352, ext. 308 or email sarahk (at) dvrc-or (dot) org.
20% of your check—June 2nd, from 11 am - 9 pm. California Pizza Kitchen, Bridgeport Village, Tualatin, OR (flyer required)
15% of your check—June 12-14, from 10 am - 11 pm. Baja Fresh, on Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton (all day, all three days, flyer required)
Every Wednesday in June Domestic Violence Resource Center is the featured charity at McCormick & Schmicks, Beaverton! Purchase the drink of the month, a gin and tonic (gin donated by Crater Lake), and all proceeds from the drink are donated to our non-profit. Happy Hour is from 3pm-6pm and 9pm-11pm. Live music is from 7pm-10pm by Charlie Jenkins.
Thank You to Spirit Mountain Community Fund
$14,000 grant awarded to build organizational capacity and improve service delivery
The Domestic Violence Resource Center is set to launch a project in Fall 2009 to help us address the secondary trauma that many of our advocates experience by working in the domestic violence services field. We will work as an agency to serve our community better by becoming a more supportive, attractive, and efficient employer in a challenging field. Not only will we be improving our agency internally, but we will also be adapting our service model in the coming months to better serve Washington County. As a nonprofit, we no longer wish to be equated with waste and inefficiency and operate in a 20th century mindset. We have done research on trauma-stewardship strategies and service models that will help us improve employee productivity, morale, motivation, satisfaction, professional support networks, mobility and connectedness. We aim to be a forward-looking, open, and collaborative organization operating in the 21st century with the help of foundations like the Spirit Mountain Community Fund.
About the Spirit Mountain Community Fund:
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde is committed to honoring their tribal traditions of sharing and giving back to the community. That’s why the Spirit Mountain Community Fund was initiated in 1997, and dedicates 6% of the profits from Spirit Mountain Casino to organizations in Western Oregon.
The money is then gifted to non-profit organizations in an 11-county area of Western Oregon: Clackamas; Multnomah; Washington; Tillamook; Lincoln; Yamhill; Polk; Marion; Benton; Linn and Lane. Spirit Mountain Community Fund and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde see these counties as neighbors and friends. “Some of you helped us during restoration to rebuild our community and we want to give back and enrich the lives of those in our neighborhood who need support and encouragement to reach their goals of self-sufficiency,” said Director Shelley Hanson.
All members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde support the Tribe’s dedication to giving back to the local community. Since the Fund was established in 1997 the Fund has targeted special needs in public safety, health, education, culture, environment, problem gaming and historic preservation. To date the Spirit Mountain Community Fund has given over $45 million to Oregon non-profits.
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Fond Farewell to Departing Protective Order Advocacy Program Director Linda Wedlake
Thank you to Linda for helping to take our Protective Order Advocacy Program at the courthouse to the next level. The past two years Linda has been instrumental in forming even stronger relationships with the justice system in Washington County and for creating and implementing a stalking advocacy piece in the program.
Linda was instrumental in helping to bring an important change to the county justice system. Up until January 2009, stalking victims could only pursue obtaining a stalking order through law enforcement. This was sometimes a barrier to stalking victims in need, so Linda helped organize a committee made up of one judge, one deputy district attorney and one Legal Aid attorney to look at what could be done. Starting this year, stalking victims now have another option in filing for a stalking protective order directly from the courts, which is currently the same process for obtaining restraining orders. This process is just one example of how well Washington County continues to respond to the needs of victims, and we have Linda to thank for being a part of this great team!
We look forward to a bright future built on the foundation that Linda has helped to put in place. We are grateful for the time Linda spent with our program and wish her the very best in her future endeavors.
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Promote your business as a champion for survivors of domestic violence!
Save the date for Autumn Affair 2009: October 2nd
Thank you to the Mauss Company, Certified Public Accountant (Champion Sponsor), & Henningsen Cold Storage (Advocate Sponsor) for stepping up as supporters of survivors of domestic violence in our community!
Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Celebrate your business as a champion of safe and healthy relationships during October, Domestic Violence Awareness month, by sponsoring the Domestic Violence Resource Center’s annual event: Autumn Affair on October 2, 2009.
Autumn Affair 2009 will provide first-rate community outreach through our event promotional materials, website, and press releases, as well as promoting your business at the event itself to approximately 150 involved community leaders in attendance. Autumn Affair is the largest fundraising event of the year for the Domestic Violence Resource Center and is vital to supporting the only non-profit serving specifically survivors in Washington County.
Visit our website for more information and for a menu of sponsorship opportunities. Or, please call Sarah Keefe at 503-680-5352, ext. 308, or email sarahk (at) dvrc-or (dot) org. We’d be delighted to discuss how we can partner with your business to support survivors!
Strawberry Shortcake Fundraiser Draws $1600 for Monika’s House
Thank you to the Soroptimists Against Violent Environments and all 9 New Seasons Market locations for putting on a fabulous Strawberry Shortcake Fundraiser! $9600 was raised in total, which was evenly split among all the Portland-area domestic violence shelters—including Monika’s House Shelter.
Thank you to the community for coming out and supporting this benefit. It was a great success!
Weren’t able to make the Strawberry Shortcake Fundraiser? We have other local foodie fundraisers kicking off TODAY!
