Advocates for Victims of Assault

Advocates is reaching out to Summit County community members to partner with us in a project to improve our domestic violence Safe House.

For over 20 years our organization has provided emergency housing for women and children who are victims of domestic violence and /or assault.  Our Safe House is a “home-like” setting with four bedrooms and full kitchen facilities.  Our clients and their children may stay at the shelter for up to 90 days.  Last year, our Safe House provided shelter for 59 women and children totaling 924 nights of shelter.

We are currently undertaking an improvement project which will focus on “sprucing up” our shelter to make the space inviting, organized and calm to victims of domestic violence and assault.  Our goal is to give our shelter a cohesive and inviting makeover without compromising other vital services such as counseling and emergency financial assistance.

We are seeking cash donations and room sponsorships.  Sponsored rooms may be dedicated to any organization or person the donor desires.  All donations are tax deductible and sincerely appreciated.  If you are interested in this project please contact:  lori@summitadvocates.org or call (970) 668-3906.

Thirty years after the 1982 Presidential Task Force on Victims of Crime we are once again celebrating National Crime Victims’ Rights.

This year’s theme is “Extending the VISION, Reaching Every VICTIM”.  In honor of the week, April 22-28, 2012, Chief Justice Bender wrote a letter which is available on judicialnet and can be accessed at:

https://www.courts.state.co.us/judicialnet/files/files/probation/CJVRweekletter2012.pdf

Please feel free to share with your colleagues.  We are proud that Colorado Courts and Probation continue to support victims of crime.

For more information about the week and an historical overview of crime victims’ rights, you may visit the following link:

http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ncvrw2012/index.html

Advocates for Vicitms of Assault, Inc. part-time Outreach and Education Coordinator. The Outreach and Education Coordinator position provides oversight, development and coordination of the organization’s outreach and education programs as well as provides direct services to victims of domestic violence and sexual violence.

Preferred Qualifications:
BA degree in behavioral science or relevant field plus 1-3 years experience working with at-risk clients and related programs.
Minimum one year experience in developing and implementing educational programs.
Knowledge and experience of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Familiarity with the Summit County resources and court system.
Must successfully complete agency background check and 30+ hour agency training.
Bi-lingual English/Spanish

Start date: Approximately June 1, 2012
Please submit resume via email or fax at 970-668-0901

We’re in the process of mailing out our Spring 2012 Newsletter, and we’re very pleased to be able to make it available to everyone online at this time. Please contact us if you have any feedback. We welcome your thoughts!

If you’d like to receive a free print copy of our next seasonal newsletter, please join our mailing list.

by:  Amy Jackson

For the first time in almost 50 years, homicide has fallen off the list of the nation’s top 15 causes of death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention… to read more

The Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”) plays a key role in the work that we, as Advocates, perform every day protecting people threatened by domestic and sexual violence. Reauthorization of VAWA is currently under debate in Congress, but efforts to renew it are facing difficulties.  We are pleased to see that Colorado Senator Michael Bennett has signed on as a cosponsor for reauthorization of VAWA.  His press release not only points out the key successes of VAWA as originally enacted, but also provides a list of the following improvements to VAWA under consideration as part of the reauthorization bill:

• Stresses the need to effectively respond to sexual assault crimes and recognizes the continuing crisis of inadequate reporting, enforcement, and services for victims of sexual assault by adding new purpose areas and a 20% set-aside in the Services-Training-Officers-Prosecutors (STOP) state communities by strengthening concurrent tribal criminal jurisdiction over perpetrators who assault Native American spouses and dating partners in tribal country.
• Strengthens housing protections for victims by applying existing housing protections to nine additional federal housing programs.
• Promotes accountability to ensure that federal funds are used for their intended purposes.
• Provides LGBT victims of domestic violence with greater access to support services.
• Focuses on the programs that have been most successful, consolidates programs and reduces specific authorization levels for more efficient budgeting.

THE TWO SISTERS shared a bed, and each night, with their hearts hammering, they would listen for the turn of the knob and the push of the door.

Quanitta Underwood was 10, her sister Hazzauna, 12. The walls of the house were thin, and the girls could hear every move their father made. Hear him sit up, hear him get out of bed, hear him walking their way.

Quanitta pinched her eyes shut when her father entered the room, but she could imagine the presence of his familiar silhouette. She felt his weight sink into the bed while his hands traveled beneath the covers. As Quanitta feigned sleep, her father groped her sister and often rolled on top.

See the rest of this article from the NY Times

We’re in the process of mailing out our Fall 2011 Newsletter, and we’re very pleased to be able to make it available to everyone online at this time. Please contact us if you have any feedback. We welcome your thoughts!

If you’d like to receive a free print copy of our next seasonal newsletter, please join our mailing list.