Welcome to the 2021 October issue of Volunteer Voices, a monthly newsletter for current and potential Domestic and Sexual Violence Services (DSVS) volunteers.
In this Issue:
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Greetings, everyone!
My name is Emerita Fernandez. I am a Latina who is passionate about helping women, children and families. I am the new Crisis Line Specialist who started in June 2021. I am very passionate about helping underserved populations. I love to aid people in reaching the resources they may need and informing them of their rights. I am a double major in family science and sociology. I also possess a master’s degree in sociology and public health.
I am really excited to be part of a vast and diverse work force that all have a love of helping people. I am fascinated by the array of experience my coworkers and colleagues have here at Fairfax County. It is inspiring to be part of a work force that has women in powerful leadership positions. My past experiences include working for a nonprofit, as well as being a case manager at Catholic Charities.
I also love culinary arts and enjoy a warm home-cooked meal. All my recipes come from my mother, as we both enjoy adding Latino flavors into our dishes. I am falling in love with exercising and leading an active lifestyle. I am married and have a Maltipoo name Coco. I am excited about growing in this position as well as meeting more wonderful people who are part of this agency!
Emerita Fernandez
Crisis Line Specialist
Tips to Attend to Mental Self-Care
Caring for our mental needs by attending to our capacity to make sense of the things around us is a critical part of self-care. We can do this work by engaging in activities that lead to a healthy and positive mental state or by participating in things that help us think more positively and stimulate inspiring images.
Check out four ways to attend to your mental self-care.
Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2021
First observed in October 1981 as a national “Day of Unity,” Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) is held each October to unite advocates across the nation in their efforts to end domestic violence.
Communities and advocacy organizations across the country connect with the public and one another throughout the month to raise awareness about the signs of abuse and ways to stop it and to uplift survivor stories and provide additional resources to leaders and policymakers. Learn more about DVAM.
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
—Arthur Ashe
Each newsletter will include this section to help share reviews, spotlight the people who support Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, recognize birthdays and list upcoming trainings and meetings.
Tahirih Justice Center
Tahirih Justice Center, a Domestic Violence Action Center partner, serves women, girls and other immigrants fleeing gender-based violence. The organization combines free legal services and social services case management with policy advocacy, training and education. Learn more about this partnership.
"The Wisdom of Trauma"
“In Plain Sight” documents six aftercare programs for women and teens who have separated from their traffickers in hopes of rebuilding their lives for a positive future.
While this documentary is seven years old, the statistics presented are still staggering:
- Over 100,000 women and at least an additional 100,000 children are sex trafficked in the United States every year.
- 80% of those trafficked are U.S. citizens.
- The average age when a female begins to be trafficked is 12 to 14 years old.
- One in three runaways will be contacted by a potential trafficker within 48 hours of being on the street.
- The I-10 corridor is the number one route for sex trafficking activity in the U.S.
These facts are the driving force behind the work of The Samaritan Woman in Baltimore, Maryland; Traffick 911 in Dallas; P.A.T.H. in Little Rock, Arkansas; Redeemed in Houston; Hope for Justice in Nashville, Tennessee; and Courage Worldwide in Sacramento.
The Samaritan Woman – Baltimore, Maryland
Jeanne Allert saw the need to have a safe place for women to focus on their healing and create the right environment for happiness to develop, sometimes for the first time, in the lives of the survivors who reside at The Samaritan Woman house, opened in 1997. The home provides free full-service care to its residents, who often come from homes where domestic violence and/or drug and alcohol abuse were present during childhood. The residents are encouraged to explore their creative side and to develop vocational and life skills that will benefit them once they leave.
Traffick 911 – Dallas
Traffick 911 works with minors who are often sitting in detention facilities under other charges unrelated to sex trafficking. These primarily 13- to 17-year-olds are often the “worst of the worse” trafficking cases that would otherwise go unnoticed by a system more focused on surface issues until found by Traffick 911’s aftercare homes and services.
P.A.T.H. – Little Rock, Arkansas
PATH is an aftercare program and victim services agency that works in conjunction with law enforcement and the legal system to identify survivors who may be assisted by their services. Through volunteer and donor support, the program rehabs abandoned buildings around Little Rock to provide safe, private and secret aftercare residences for the women in the program. While in PATH, participants are provided free shelter; education; life skills coaching and mental, physical and spiritual assistance.
Redeemed – Houston
Redeemed’s aftercare program provides a safe home for its residents for up to one year. The residents receive physical, spiritual and relational healing through access to equine therapy, expressive therapy and by working with staff counselors who are specifically trained to work with trafficked individuals. The overall goal of Redeemed is to help those in their care learn how to trust people again.
Courage Worldwide – Sacramento
Courage houses provide homes and full-service care for trafficked minors, many of whom were in foster care, are runaways or are in other precarious living situations. Education is provided onsite, as many residents are at different educational levels than their schooled peer group.
Hope for Justice – Nashville, Tennessee
Focused on restorative social work, Hope for Justice is looking to open an aftercare program for trafficked survivors.
Many of the participants in this documentary highlighted the fact that for as long as there are “Johns” trafficking will continue to be a problem in the U.S. Jail time is only a temporary solution to this pervasive issue. For trafficking to stop, a dramatic mental shift needs to happen and the country needs to stop hiding the fact that trafficking happens every day in every community regardless of race or socioeconomic status.
—Audrey J. Arnold, former ADAPT Volunteer
Meet David Banks, Hotline Volunteer
“Hearing about a mature woman who was courageous enough to leave her long-term marriage to a local minister,” says David Banks, Hotline volunteer, of his most memorable experience. “The best part is knowing we have provided affirming and accurate information to callers who may have had incorrect information and felt badly about themselves as a result of the information they had prior to the call.”
Learn more about David’s volunteer story.
Bolivia Bustamante, 3
Joan Meagher, 5
Charles Moore, 5
Sherron Fantauzzi, 8
Shawn Desai, 9
Ni Hsieh, 11
Allison Pickmans, 17
Norma Williamson, 20
Nancy Lee, 25
Dipti Maniar, 25
Training: Economic Advocacy
Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021
2:30-4:30 p.m.
This training will share how to help domestic violence survivors question the messages and implicit lessons they have learned from society and abusers about financial relationships and decisions. Participants will learn how financial abuse impacts survivors and how to work with them on financial fundamentals such as budgeting, credit and long-term planning, using the Allstate Foundation’s Moving Ahead Curriculum. Participants will also learn about local resources to help survivors with economic issues, including finances, housing and employment. This training is free but registration is required.
QUARTERLY TRAININGS
There are no quarterly trainings this month.
Please take a moment to log on to your Volunteer Management System (VMS) account and log your hours for the month of September. Please also log any time you spent on training under “volunteer training.” If you do not see this selection under your opportunities, please email Tanisha Cox, and she will log on to add it to your account.
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Please enter your hours for each day you volunteered and not as a lump sum.
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If you need to log hours for a previous month, please send email Debra to let her know so she can be aware of the entry and expedite the approval process.
Check out past issues of Volunteer Voices.