September 6, 2002

Dear Friends,
Amazing news this week. The Miles Foundation will be supplying every military base in the United States with a Silent Witness exhibit. What an amazing new venture for us and for the families that will experience healing through being involved with the exhibit. More in the world-wide section of the newsletter. Many thanks to the Miles Foundation.

And congratulations to our activists in two states who have received the Women's Peacepower Foundation Awards this year. What an honor--to be seen as some of the most effective domestic violence activists in the country. Kudos to Vickie Amundson, Jerri Miller, and Nancy Rafi.

WELCOME NEW EMAIL CORRESPONDENTS:
Candy McSwain (Destiny House, South Providence, RI), Emily Heilbrun (Oregon, new email address), Shelly Musser (Prevention coordinator, Sojourn shelter, Springfield, IL), Debbie Smith (Univ. of Michigan Health Care Program, Ann Arbor), Annette Scott (SAFE House, Henderson, NV), Lance and Mary Butner (Friends of Silent Witness, Minneapolis), Candace Slaughter (Peacepower Foundation, France, new email address), Tracy Spicer (Blue Vallee Crisis Center, Fiarbury, NE, new SW exhibit), Karen Rider (Women's Center, University of Hartford, Hartford, CT)

States on Board for October events: 16 states on board so far.
Alaska, California, Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming.

Countries on Board for October-November events: Silent Witness and 16 Days Against Violence
Cayman Islands, Hungary, United States.

Please let me know ASAP if you are planning an event, even if you don't have the details. It saves us making calls to everyone!!

In preparation for October's events, I would like to remind each of us again why we are doing this work. Here are three Silent Witness plaque stories, women for us to honor and remember. And if you would like to enter a name and story on our web site please do so. Home page lists the link.

Theresa Nagatori, age 26, killed September 11, 1993, New Hampshire
During an argument on a Saturday drive through the Lakes region, she was beaten, dragged and run over. Her small children sat in the back seat. Her companion pled guilty to manslaughter and is serving a sentence of 10-20 years.

Helen Ferguson, age 41, killed February 27, 1994, New Hampshire
She was a much loved Salem High School English teacher and mother of two young girls. She was found in her husband's blood soaked cleaning van. She died of head wounds. the suspected weapons are a five-pound pipe wrench and a twelve-inch screwdriver. Her husband has been charged with the murder.

Jackie Preston, age 51, August 11, 1993, New Hampshire
She lived in Haverhill. During an argument her husband smashed a loaded shot gun against a beam. She was shot in the chest and abdomen. He was found guilty of manslaughter and is serving a 12-25 year sentence at the New Hampshire State Prison.

NEWS FROM THE STATES/COUNTRIES:

Australia:
Betty Taylor wrote from Australia (Gold Coast) that they have a Silent Witness exhibit with ten figures. It is the latest exhibit in Australia and we are delighted to have them on board. We met Betty this summer when she was traveling in the US meeting with a variety of DV advocates. She and her staff are doing very innovative and successful programming in Australia, especially with women survivors. We hope to hear more from them about their programming as they proceed. And welcome to the network, Betty and company.

Cayman Islands:
Renee Hannas, of the BPW in Cayman Islands write this GREAT progress on the safe house. Renee is moving to Vancouver so we'll be anxious to see what she gets going there!!

I have good news for you.....each week here the NCADA is meeting and the safe house here is definitely on the go. We are currently choosing a Board of Directors. I'm sad that I will not be here to be able to see it through....but it makes my heart very happy to see that the safe house will definitely come to be here. I'll just have to come back to visit to see it!
Each month I read the newsletters and it truly inspires me....and your visit here/meeting you did too. Thank-you for that inspiration:>) Also, you mentioned to me here that there is no SW in Vancouver or Canada? Once I am there and settled I will definitely contact you and if this is still true I would like to change that!

*Renee, I was truly inspired when I visited you in the Caymans last fall. I loved the energy of the women of BPW and the plans they made last fall are coming into fruition now. Good for you. Congratulations.

Maryland:
This message from Pat Lupson, a mother and grandmother of DV victims and a SW activists:

Janet, I must tell you about an honor Warren and I received. We were asked to give a presentation at the recently held American Correctional Association's conference in California about our going into prisons and talking directly to the inmates about domestic violence the impact it, and crime, has. What a validation for what we're trying to do. This is the national association that services the complete correctional industry.

Even better - they received such a positive response that they have asked us back for their winter conference in North Carolina. Cool stuff - as I always say, if only one of those inmates walks out of that institution (and let's face it 95% go back to society) and he doesn't raise his hand again in anger, pick up a gun again, do drugs again, drive drunk again, then I have done honor to Gina, Shaun and Joshua's memory - not to mention all the other silent witnesses around the world!

*Pat and Warren, this is such good work. Your impact is growing. Your story is so compelling. Thank you for honoring the memory of your daughter and grandsons in this healing way.

Massachusetts:
Patricia Shaffer reports on the success of their recent project in MA:
The Back to School Drive was a GREAT SUCESS- outfitting 66+ children in shelters in the Lowell area and Newburyport area. Our next project will be focused on October -Domestic Violence Awareness month. We are excited about reaching out to bring awareness to the workplace.

*Great work. Isn't it fun to see such tangible results of your work? Keep up the great efforts.

North Carolina:
An update from Eli Moore, following the murders at Ft. Bragg:
On August 21st more than 80 people came together in Fayetteville, NC (home of the Ft.Bragg DV Homicides) to mourn the loss of battered women and come together as a community to discuss ways to improve on their current response to domestic violence. Attendees included military, DV advocates, social service people, battered/formerly battered women, state agencies and NCCADV. People were given the opportunity to express ideas and suggestions on where improvements were needed. The community will meet again to begin plans to implement suggestions for improvement to response. The Silent Witness made a powerful exhibit as people walked into the foyer of the conference room.

*Thank goodness the Silent Witnesses were at this powerful event to start the healing process and insure that women are safe and perpetrators are given effective treatment. Thanks for all your good work Eli, and company.

Pennsylvania:
Janet, this is Deb Donahue, I am the Executive Director of Domestic Violence Services of Cumberland and Perry Counties - located in Carlisle, PA,. On Thur. Oct. 17th we will be co-hosting a Candlelite Vigil with the DV program from Dauphin Co. on the steps of the Capitol in downtown Harrisburg, PA. We will be featuring the Silent Witness project at that time. More details will follow, if you are interested in reviewing the events that we are planning for DV Awareness month, please refer to our Website at www.DVSCP.org.

*We are grateful that so many states are writing in early this year to inform us about their plans. Thanks for this wonderful effort. We hope many lives are changed as a result.

South Dakota:
Shirley Erhart sends this news from South Dakota:
The SD Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault will hold a variety of special events during October. Member programs will hold their events as well as the Coalition. We are in the process of creating 3 new sets of Silent Witness figures in the hopes we will be able to have sets at the programs throughout the state when needed at various times. We will try to fill you in on the various happenings and outcomes in November.

*Thanks for this update, Shirley. Wow, three new sets. That's ambitious but very useful if you want each section of the state to have easier access to an exhibit. Great work. And congratulations again on being the first state to eliminate DV homicides for women for one whole year.

West Virginia:

Pam Dolan (Jr. League of Fairmont) gives us a heads up on their activity in WVA this fall:
We will be displaying the Silent Witnesses at West Virginia University the week of October 7. We will have a symposium also with speakers, etc. Not too many other details at this time.

*Thanks, Pam, for this info. We'll look forward to the details.

NEWS FROM WORLDWIDE HEADQUARTERS:

Women's Peacepower Foundation gives awards:
The Women's Peacepower foundation recently gave their international awards to women who have made significant contributions to peace making. A few of our own Silent Witness activists were among the distinguished award recipients. They are Jerri Miller and Vickie Amundson of the Silent Witness effort in Montana, and Nancy Rafi, our coordinator in Rhode Island and the NE Region. Congratulations to each of these outstanding women who work so tirelessly for peace and healing within the domestic violence movement. The awards ceremony is in Florida in September and each women gets a cash prize along with her award. We are so proud of these winners and will put their names in our award section of the web page.

Sixty Minutes highlights DV and the Miles Foundation funds SW exhibits on military bases:
Sixty Minutes aired a powerful program about DV on military bases this week. They said DV is three times higher on military bases than in the rest of the population. Although there are programs in place all throughout the military, it seems they are not being consistently used or adhered to. The murders at Ft. Bragg have brought all of this to the surface once again. And out of this bad news an amazing thing has happened...

The Miles Foundation of New Town, CT, which provides services to victims of DV, are supplying all 80-90 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, and Coast Guard bases with Silent Witness exhibits. The objective is to honor the women who've been murdered on these bases and to pledge to eliminate DV in the military. Family members are invited to be involved. Many thanks to Christine Hansen, the executive director of the Miles Foundation. Also thanks to those in NC who are working on a committee with Ft. Bragg personnel to bring more attention to the DV issues on the base. More details to follow.

Training for Self Mastery and a new application for teenagers: Rose Mary Boerboom
Rose Mary will do two training programs in the Washington DC area this fall, Thurs., November 7 Ellicott City, MD, and Friday, November 8 at College Park, MD. For a brochure or more information call 1-800-843-7763 or see www.pesihealthcare.com This would be a great time for those of you on the East coast to see her model. She has also been working with the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities to design programs for truant youth and other youth with school issues. If you would like to receive more information on either of these two programs contact Rose Mary at rose_mary_boerboom@hotmail.com

Speaking of results, Rose Mary's Self Mastery DV Treatment groups which work with court ordered men have consistent completion rates of 90-94%. Her lowest average completion rate is 85%. This compares with the national average of 50-60%. She works for Family Service and her groups are 36 hours long. She is starting women's groups this month and will begin doing follow up research this fall.

Two Training Sites for investigation of Sexual Assault and DV: Anne O'Dell and Joanne Archambault
Sgt. Joanne Archambault (Retired) and Sgt. Anne O'Dell (Retired) will present a two day class on "state of the art" training in the investigation of sexual assault and domestic violence. It will be held September 25-26, 2003 in Troy, NY. For more information, visit http://www.mysati.com/reg_ny_9_2002.htm. Or call 858-679-2913.

Sgt. Joanne Archambault (Retired) and Sgt. Anne O'Dell (Retired) will present a two day class on "state of the art" training in the investigation of sexual assault in New Orleans, LA on November 7-8, 2002. For more information, visit http://www.mysati.com/reg_la_11_2002.htm or call 858-679-2913.

MultiMedia productions about violence for college students:
My name is Nancy Hulse, and I produce live, multimedia programs about women's issues. I currently have two main shows in production: "That Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady", which deals with relationship violence and, "A Rose by Any Other Name", which illustrates the impact of rape on women in our society. Recently I have developed two new "SPOKEN WORD" versions of my shows to help me reach the widest possible audience with this important message. Same content, same impact, but less technical and more intimate in nature. The full "Theatrical" versions of these shows are, of course, still available.

My shows provide a unique and powerful way to educate students about these important issues. They are ideal for orientations, anti-violence programs, women's studies, criminal justice, health, and other related activities. Please read the newspaper article (link below) about my performance at Pittsburg State in Kansas, and visit the link and my web site for further information. I look forward to hearing from you.
Nancy Hulse Womynkind Productions http://www.womynkind.org 1-888-578-9847

I leave you today with a quote from the late John Gardner, founder of Common Cause.

"The first and last task of a leader is to keep hope alive."

Keep hope alive out there. There are so many things we are doing and can do to get to our goal of 0 by 2010. I just know we can make it. Keep up the great work.

Cheers,

Janet
jhagberg@mn.rr.com

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