Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence - Fall 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends, Here’s a statistic that should shock all of us: 50 domestic violence incidents warranting police involvement occur every day in Boulder County. More than1,700 domestic violence reports are made to Boulder County law enforcement each year, and given FBI estimates that only one in ten domestic violence incidents is ever reported, an estimated 17,000 intimate partner assaults occur in Boulder County yearly. That’s 50 assaults every day, 350 every week, just in Boulder County. Imagine any other crime occurring at this same rate in our community: 50 stranger assaults each day; 350 DUIs each week; 17,000 annual home invasions. The community outrage and demand for solutions would be resounding. When we reduce domestic violence to a “private matter” our outrage at its prevalence is muted. It becomes something that happens behind another family’s closed doors, not our business and not a threat to our safety. Yet with 50 domestic violence incidents occurring each day, impacting our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our friends and family, it is very much a community issue. To break through the secrecy and silence that emboldens abusers and endangers survivors, SPAN is hosting several educational events as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month this October. Please plan to join in the conversation at one of these events (described in this newsletter and on our website). The more we talk about interpersonal violence, the more we dismantle myths that blame victims and excuse abusers, the more effective we will be as a community in reducing the prevalence of domestic violence. Together, we can make a difference! Peace,

Anne Tapp, Executive Director

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and SPAN is recognizing it with a variety of activities and events bringing conversation and awareness of domestic violence to our local communities. With recent international media coverage shining the spotlight on domestic violence, the time is right for

community dialogue of awareness and solutions that seek to end violence where we live, work, and play. SPAN invites the public to these upcoming events as a catalyst for engaging conversation and advocating for this cause.

October 15: The Invisible Parishioner - Domestic Violence in Faith Communities – part of SPAN’s monthly Social Justice Workshop series, this two hour presentation is designed to help faith communities work with victims and survivors to address the many complex issues associated with faith and domestic violence. There is a suggested donation of $10 to attend and the workshop starts at 11:00 AM at SPAN’s Boulder Outreach Center, 835 North Street.

October 16: Toxic Stress - How Children’s Experiences in the First 3 Years Have a Life-Long Impact – This free presentation will show how domestic violence, neglect, abuse, extreme poverty, etc., can create toxic stress in a child. Presented by Sarah Watamura, Ph.D., at City of Boulder Council Chambers, 1777 Broadway, starting at 10:00 AM.

From the Director’s Desk -

Fall 2014

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH ACTIVITIES

continued on page 5

Connect the Dots:How DV Impacts Other Human Services

No Pets Left Behind

Would you leave your child behind if you needed to quickly leave your home? This question seems unthinkable to most of us. But what about your pet or companion animal? For people fleeing abuse the answer may not be so clear. Research tells us that abusers often have a pattern of violence involving all members of the household – including children and pets. When victims of domestic violence seek to escape their abusive homes they’re not only faced with the challenge of finding shelter for themselves and their children, but also for their pets. Numerous surveys have reported that between 18%-48% of domestic violence victims have delayed their decision to leave OR have returned out of fear for the welfare of their pets. Since 2002 SPAN has worked with the Humane Society of Boulder Valley (HSBV) to offer domestic violence survivors the Safehaven Program. The Safehaven Program allows victims to bring their animals to SPAN’s Emergency Shelter where they will be picked up by an Animal Care and Control officer and brought to HSBV. There the animals are housed in a separate, confidential space where they receive food, exercise, medical attention, behavior assessment and especially, lots of love and care. For most cases, foster care is a viable option while the guardian stays at the SPAN shelter. To date, HSBV has safely housed more than 200 animals from guppies to cats, dogs and reptiles. Because of this great collaboration between SPAN and the Humane Society, that was 200 families and their animal friends who found safety.

Collaboration is the name of the game in the non-profit community. This has always been the case, but today’s funding realities demand that non-profits be nimble, dynamic and collaborative. Funders and donors want to know that their money is being used efficiently, and it just doesn’t make sense for each and every non-profit to act independently, reinventing the wheel for every one of their clients’ needs. Collaboration is deeply embedded in SPAN’s organizational culture and we have long been a leader in developing innovative partnerships that help ensure that survivors of violence have access to SPAN’s services and are being supported by the entire human services “safety net”. There isn’t a human services agency in Boulder County that SPAN does not work with to help address the needs of survivors for basic needs like food and clothing, health care and mental health care, drug and alcohol recovery, long term housing solutions, child care, etc., etc. The list goes on and on. At the same time, a certain kind of “siloing” persists, particularly around perceptions about the impact of domestic violence. Domestic violence is still seen as a stand-alone issue that involves just the two people in the relationship and if the victim will just leave the problem is solved. This simplistic view of intimate partner violence

does not reflect the complicated realities survivors face, nor does it address the multitude of ways that violence impacts victims and their children. With just a little scrutiny we can connect the dots and find violence and abuse somewhere at the heart of every one of the critical human services needs in our community. For instance, poverty does not cause domestic violence but domestic violence can and does throw victims, primarily women and children, into poverty and instability. Even under the best of circumstances a woman’s household income drops by an average of 30% after a divorce and for survivors of violence this is often compounded by the direct and indirect consequences of abuse. The barriers created by domestic violence that impact a survivor’s ability to become self-sufficient include even the most basic access to financial resources like cash, credit or a bank account. Often

an abuser will curtail their partner’s ability to work as part of the exercise of

power and control. And even when a survivor does have viable employment, she will often have to leave her job and even change careers for fear that a violent abuser will use that job as a way to track her down. Poverty creates a host of collateral problems for survivors, including even meeting the most basic needs. SPAN is one of the primary homelessness prevention programs in Boulder County, even if that is not how people generally think of the work that we do. Domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness among women and children and the lack of affordable continued on page 4

{ ...poverty does not cause DV, but DV does cause poverty... }

3

RECENT GRANT FUNDING

CORPORATE CORNER

BE AN AGENT OF CHANGE:DONATE TO SPAN TODAY!

SPAN is a registered 501 (c) 3 public charity and donations are tax deductible. We are also committed to keeping our administrative and fundraising costs low, so .87 cents of every dollar donated goes to supporting client services. We need your help!• $10,000 will provide 3 meals a day, 365 days a year for shelter residents -- that’s a total of 29,000 meals a year!• $5,000 will cover the cost of a mother and her two children staying at the Emergency Shelter for six weeks.• $2,500 will pay for SPAN’s summer day camp program for children impacted by violence.• $1,000 provides twelve weeks of group and individual counseling for a domestic violence survivor.• $500 will subsidize one month’s rent for a survivor and her children in the Transitional Housing Program.• $100 keeps SPAN’s Protection Order clinics at Boulder or Broomfield Courts open for a day.

The Daniels Fund - $30,000 to support SPAN’s Emergency Shelter and Transitional Services ProgramsAnschutz Family Foundation - $10,000 in general operating supportThe Colorado Bar Association Foundation - $2,500 to support SPAN Legal Advocacy ProgramAEC Foundation - $10,000 to support the Emergency Shelter ProgramBroomfield Community Foundation - $3,000 to support SPAN’s Broomfield Outreach ProgramCity of Lafayette/One Lafayette - $2,500 in support of services at SPAN’s Lafayette-based Tri-City ProgramOpen Door Fund - $2,000 to continue trans-inclusivity training for Shelter staff

Thank you Covidien for making SPAN your Day of Caring project!Each year Foothills United Way or-ganizes the Day of Caring, a day for the local corporate community to volunteer at local non-profits. This year a team from Covidien came to SPAN’s Shelter and spent the day cleaning and doing repairs.

Level 3 does it again!SPAN has been fortunate enough to host two separate teams of Level 3 employees this year who have painted and cleaned at the Emergency Shelter. This is on top of the regular volunteer support Level 3 staff have shown children at SPAN’s Tri-City Program in Lafayette, with weekly tutoring and one-on-one homework help during the school year. And that is on top of the $7,500 Level 3 has donated to SPAN this year.

4

continued from page 2

housing in the Front Range has a huge impact on a survivor’s ability to become and remain safe, stable and self-sufficient. SPAN’s Emergency Shelter keeps survivors

from having to choose between sleeping on the streets or remaining with their abuser and the Transitional Services Program works to address the longer term needs for housing. You also don’t generally think of food insecurity as an issue SPAN deals with but in fact SPAN provides more than 30,000 meals each year, between feeding more than 350 people at Shelter and providing Outreach clients with emergency food support. Improved access to health care and mental health services is another area where we see the impact of violence. Many domestic violence survivors have endured such severe abuse that they have permanent injuries or chronic physical and/or mental health problems. More than a third of SPAN’s Emergency Shelter residents report having a physical, cognitive or emotional disability, often as a result of the abuse. Violence is impacting a significant number of children in our community. The Boulder County Domestic Violence Research Team, which tracks local data on domestic violence reports to law enforcement, notes that children are witnesses to domestic assaults in 30% of police responses. With an average of 1,700 cases of domestic assault reported to law enforcement each year this means that in nearly 600 of those assaults, children are directly impacted by the trauma of violence. Research shows that the trauma of growing up in a violent home can impact children’s brain function and structure, permanently impacting their cognitive, emotional and behavioral development. This developmental disruption has been shown to lead to behavioral and physical health problems, including depression and anxiety, drug and alcohol use. Without appropriate support these children are more likely to run away from home, engage in unhealthy sexual behaviors, and commit or be victims of crime. These children are our children, they are in our schools, they are the future of our community. Making sure that children who have been impacted by violence and abuse in their families get the very specific, trauma informed care they need is critical. Connect the dots and you see that there is not a single human services issue in Boulder and Broomfield Counties that is not impacted in some way, on some level by the issue of violence. Poverty, instability and homelessness, increased access to health care and mental health care, childhood development and education, the impact of violence and abuse is profound and needs to be a part of the conversation as we strive to address these issues. At SPAN we will continue to connect the dots, working with our existing community partners and forging new relationships to address gaps in services and to bring more awareness to the impact of violence on our community.

Connecting the Dots Through Partnerships & Collaborations

To help survivors of violence build safe and stable lives for themselves and their children, SPAN works closely with other agencies. Examples of SPAN working to “con-nect the dots” include:• In 2011 SPAN initiated a collaboration with Boulder County Child Protective Services workers that has taken a proactive and dynamic approach to working with HHS child protection workers, implementing cross-trainings for domestic violence advocates and child protection work-ers, and maintaining regular channels of inter-agency communications around specific cases.• SPAN partners with Clinica Family Health Services to provide clients with services in the Emergency Shelter’s on-site health clinic. Weekly visits by a Physician’s Assis-tant allows shelter residents to receive basic health screen-ings, referrals to other health resources and support with medications and other issues.• SPAN is one of the primary homelessness prevention non-profits in Boulder County, and we work closely with both the City of Boulder’s Moving to Work Program and the County’s Housing Stability Program. SPAN’s Tran-sitional Services clients receive support and advocacy as they access these programs, and SPAN staff provide training and technical assistance to program staff to better support participants who may be reluctant to disclose abuse.

5

October 20: HBO Documentary National Film Screening of Private Violence – Join us at the SPAN Boulder Outreach Center for a special screening of the HBO documentary, Private Violence. Private Violence explores a simple, but deeply disturbing fact of American life: the most dangerous place for a woman in America is her own home. This event is free and the screening will begin at 5:30 PM.

October 20: Peers Building Justice Open House at OutBoulder – Find out more about SPAN’s youth violence prevention work and the Peers Building Justice (PBJ) program at this open house. PBJ is a youth group that resists violence in our communities and promotes social justice through art-based projects. Stop by from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at OutBoulder, 2132 14th Street in Boulder.

October 22: CU Panel Discussion - Striving for Justice, Gender Violence Then & Now – As part of the year-long celebration of SPAN’s 35th Anniversary, you are invited to a panel discussion on the history of gender violence in our community, where we have come from, and where we are going. This event is free and begins at 4:00 PM at CU’s UMC, 1669 Euclid Avenue.

October 27: 35th Anniversary Open House, Inspiration Awards & Annual Meeting – Help SPAN celebrate our 35th Anniversary, find out more about our programs and services, and join us in recognizing some of the people who inspired us in 2014! The Open House will be held at SPAN’s Boulder Outreach Center and begins at 4:30 PM, with a short presentation starting at 5:30 PM. Refreshments will be served.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH ACTIVITIES continued from page 1

A Survivor’s Story

Nine minutes I couldn’t breatheone hitone blow was all it tookNine times I asked myself if he was right?one hard decisionone callNine years I’ve been living in this hellWhat’s one more?one happy little family we appeared to be.Nine one oneone last time he had his waytoday was the first time I would be braveNine sorry excusesone lieone sorry excuse for a police officerNine times I asked myself, “Should we go?”Where would we stay? A safehouse? A shelter?One mustard seed of faithFighting the one demon on my shoulderNine dollars to my name.One daughterOne sonI don’t need anything more,Look out world, here we come!

Nine One One - by Nikole C.

6

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?

Summer concert fun at Boulder’s 29th Street Mall In August SPAN was the featured non-profit at the 29th Street Mall’s Summer Concert Series. For five Saturdays that month SPAN staff, Board Members and volunteers sold drink tickets and helped spread the word on SPAN’s mission of healing, hope and opportunity!

Shelter staff and Board Chair Judy Knapp pitching in at the SPAN booth. SPAN raised over $4,000 at the concert series!

Senator Udall staffer visits SPAN Boulder Outreach CenterStephanie Cross, Constituent Advocate for Senator Mark Udall, stopped by to visit SPAN in September. Shown here, from left to right, are SPAN Executive Director, Anne Tapp, Ms. Cross, SPAN Board Vice Chair Lisa Darby, and Board Chair Judy Knapp.

Another great year for SPAN’s Camp Kid!This summer SPAN’s Camp Kid provided good old fashioned fun to 25 children ages 5 through 13, with a week of activities that included a trip to Gateway Fun Park, science projects at the NOAA campus, arts and crafts, sports, and lunches catered by local restaurants. Thanks to everyone who helped make Camp Kid 2014 possible!

WE LOVE SPAN VOLUNTEERS

7

Each year more than 300 people donate 33,000+ hours of time to SPAN. These dedicated superstars sup-port our Crisis & Information Hotline, provide 24/7 emergency intervention services to victims of domestic assault after police intervention, help out with children’s play groups and other activities, support victims as they navi-gate the legal system, and so much more! Meet one of these amazing volunteers - Ashley Mills!

Ashley has generously given her time as a Children’s Program volunteer since June 2013. Since then Ashley has consistently risen to meet the challeng-es and joys of being a Children’s volunteer. The kiddos know that when Ashley is volunteering she is available to play and provide whatever is needed!

Q: With your busy schedule and all of the wonderful things you do, what made you decide to volunteer as a children’s volunteer at SPAN?A: As a Peace Studies student at Naropa University, SPAN had been on my radar for quite a while due to its strong stance on equality and nonviolent social change. In addition, I recently spent a year living in Salida, CO where I worked at the local Boys & Girls Club. It was there that I truly fell in love with children – especially those who are underprivileged. They have such a strong yet extremely sensitive char-acter. The whole experience left me with a desire to do more. After graduating, I had some extra time and I wanted to spend it giving back to my community. SPAN seemed like the wisest choice because it blended my passions – nonviolence, social change and amazing kiddos.

Q: What has been your best experience with the kids so far at SPAN?A: Shelter can be a pretty scary place for young children. There was a little girl stay-ing there who was extremely reserved when I first met her. Her mom told us that she was very shy and probably wouldn’t play much. When I introduced myself to her, I knelt down beside her so we would be on the same level and used a very soft yet cheerful tone of voice. While I was preparing for group to start I would catch her peeking around corners watching me. So then I started a game with her where I would imitate her by hiding behind corners and peeking at her. She thought it was the best thing as she would run away laughing then a few minutes later would come back to start again. The game really burst her shell as she became my little shadow. We had a great time playing in group with the other kiddos and the other volunteers. The next time I went to shelter, she yelled my name and kids group! Sometimes a little play is all we need to reach another. Good for both her and me.

Q: If you had to choose an ice cream that best represented you, what ice cream would you choose?A: Rocky Road – I’ve overcome many rocks on my life’s road but the paths in be-tween have been filled with lots of sweetness.

BE AN AGENT OF CHANGE!BE A SPAN VOLUNTEER

Use your talents to strive for peace, and support survivors and their children! Share your

experience and learn new skills.

Visit our website at www.safehousealliance.org

for more information or call 303-449-8623 today.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

Mahatma Gandhi

835 North StreetBoulder, CO 80304

Sign up today to receive SPAN’s enewsletter! Staying in touch and informed is easy when you receive Reach Out via email. Send an email to [email protected] and subscribe today!

Save the dates!

KeepTheSafetyNetStrong.org