Domestic Violence Counts

The National Network to End Domestic Violence conducted their National Census of Domestic Violence Services last year. Simply put, this census counted the number of adults and children who received life-saving services from domestic violence programs on September 25, 2007.

On that one day, domestic violence programs across the nation served over 53,000 people. Local, state and national crisis hotlines answered more than 20,000 phone calls - that's 14 calls a minute.

In Ohio, 2,152 victims were served in those 24 hours. And 86% of the 72 domestic violence programs in our state provided individual counseling or advocacy to children and adults.

The results show that domestic violence services are in high demand. We hope that this census can educate communities and allow more people access to these vital services.

January is National Stalking Awareness Month

Next month ushers in more than just the start of the 2009 New Year. January is National Stalking Awareness Month. Started in 2004 by The National Center for Victims of Crime, it is a time to bring about awareness of the dangers of stalking.

Did you know that stalking is a crime in all 50 states, including the District of Columbia? One in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime. Stalking ranges from repeated phone calls and unwanted gifts to threats and controlling actions that create fear.

The theme for 2009 is "Stalking: Know It. Name It. Stop It." Share with others that 1.4 million people in the United States are stalked every year. Tell your friends that 77% of female victims and 64% of male victims know their stalker.

You can help promote National Stalking Awareness Month. Get the facts by scrolling down to the "More Information" box at the bottom of the page and open the "January: National Stalking Awareness Month" folder. Or learn more by visiting http://stalkingawarenessmonth.org/.

Insight from Santa Claus

Our Client Christmas Party was fun for everyone! The evening began with a tasty dinner, graciously served by our board members; crafts for the children followed. And to complete our celebration, Santa Claus, with Mrs. Claus in tow, entered just in time to join in the Hokey Pokey. Santa greeted children one by one and Mrs. Claus handed out presents.

Once Santa had spoken with each child, he told us something very unexpected. Out of every Christmas party that he attends, ours is quite different. Santa noted that many of the children at our party are fearful to approach him due to the fact that he is an adult male. The fear stems from negative associations the majority of these children have with male figures. Mrs. Claus played an important part that evening, reassuring children of the safety of Santa.

Santa added that what the children requested for Christmas showed another difference between our party and others. Most children asked for toys and games, but those at our party asked for basic items such as coats and socks. These insights show us the importance of our Christmas Party. We hope that the children asking Santa to bring them socks will soon be able to wish only for toys and games. We are thankful for our special Santa!

Match Day a Success

When the Community Foundation announced that funds for Match Day would be distributed on a first-come, first served-basis we imagined that people would be lining up early to wait for the doors to open. So we got in line at 4 p.m. on December 16th, the evening before the big day.

Our staff and volunteers took turns keeping our place first in line. We positioned ourselves outside the doors to the building, and as other nonprofit agencies joined us our circle of chairs grew. Three other organizations had representatives who braved the cold with us all night. We passed the time talking, laughing and enjoying hot coffee, walking to and from our outreach building for bathroom breaks. The winter weather could not quell our determination.

Hours before the building was scheduled to open, staff members from the remaining agencies arrived. To the group's delight, one of our board members stopped by with a large supply of hot cocoa, coffee, donuts and bagels which provided an energy boost.

At 7 a.m. the doors opened and we were greeted by the Community Foundation staff who ushered everyone inside the warm building. The check collection began at 8 a.m. We are extremely proud to report that we raised over $35,000, giving us a total over $70,000!

Our donors astounded us with their generosity and for that we are truly thankful. Match Day was a huge success - from the amount of support we received to the combined efforts of our board members, staff and volunteers who worked together tirelessly .

The Findlay Rotary Club Gala

We have some very exciting news to share. For the past two years The Findlay Rotary Club has held a fundraising gala to benefit local organizations, and (drum roll please) this year Open Arms will be a recipient! We can't wait to get started with our projects.

The Findlay Rotary Club will provide us with $50,000 to install windows in both our outreach building and the shelter, put a new roof on the shelter, fix the siding at the shelter and place security cameras in our outreach building for the Harmony House program. Wow! Look for these projects to begin in the Spring.

The gala is on May 15th at the Cube from 7 p.m. – midnight. To purchase your tickets visit the Rotary website at http://www.nex-tech.biz/tickets.html or call the Rotary Offices at 419.422.7557.

Thank you Findlay Rotary Club for this incredible act of service! We are also grateful for our staff and board members who presented these needs before the full Rotary Board. We are looking forward to beginning these endeavors.

Marathon Oil Honors an Open Arms Volunteer

Marathon Oil recently awarded us $1,000 through their employee-based Global Volunteer Award Program. The program honors 13 employees worldwide for their outstanding community service, giving a total of $13,000 in charitable grants to nonprofit organizations. Tracy Capes, a Marathon Oil employee and one of our valuable volunteers, received this honor.

Tracy is an advocate for the education and awareness of domestic violence in our community. She wants people to understand and be aware of this issue. "The statistics prove that it's happening in their neighborhood," she said, explaining why community education is essential.

As a volunteer for seven years, Tracy has served many roles. She helped with our Christmas Party, photographed the Bird House Auction, served on several committees and even monitored Harmony House visitations... just to name a few. Tracy has seen how her position as a volunteer is important for Open Arms and our community.

When asked her favorite part about volunteering, Tracy said that she enjoys "giving back to the organization and watching people be able to improve their lives."

We are thankful for Tracy's service at Open Arms and for all of our wonderful volunteers!

Matching Donations: Double the Fun

How would you like your donation to be twice as nice this year? Making double the impact for Open Arms is easy!

The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation has declared December 17th "Match Day." That means you can make a donation to The Community Foundation to benefit Open Arms - and get it matched penny for penny! The Community Foundation will match donations given to support local Health and Human Service organizations that meet the immediate needs of Hancock County residents.

Mark your calendars for December 17th and follow these steps to double your donation:

• Donations must be a minimum of $100 to be matched; maximum amount matched is $10,000
• Make checks payable to The Community Foundation and write Open Arms in the memo area
• Checks written to Open Arms will not be matched
• Drop off your donation at The Community Foundation (located at 101 West Sandusky Street, Suite 207) between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on December 17th
• Or simply drop off your donation at our office before December 17 and we will bring the collected checks to The Community Foundation on Match Day
• Matching funds are on a first-come first-served basis and The Community Foundation is offering $300,000 in matching funds

If you have any further questions, check out http://www.community-foundation.com/.

A Survivor of Rape, Sexual Assualt and Domestic Violence: One Client's Story

By the 17th of November we had responded to 26 rape calls at the emergency room. Five of those were in the first two weeks of November alone.

Sadly, statistics teach us that most rape victims are actually assaulted in their homes. Occasionally after a rape situation a victim realizes that it is unsafe to return home, either because the offender has access to her there or because her home needs safety repairs to doors and locks.

In the last month we have housed two women who survived sexual assaults and found themselves in this situation. One of the women was fleeing a husband who has an extensive history of violence and abuse. She relocated after he was incarcerated for several domestic violence charges. She was sexually assaulted in her new home by an acquaintance of the person she was staying with.

When describing her assault she says, “I like to think it has made me a stronger person, but I continue to battle with my emotions everyday and keep a lot of things bottled inside.”

Besides shelter and support the women have been assisted by Open Arms staff in working with the criminal justice system and obtaining protection orders.

Calling all Santa's Helpers...

We're gearing up for something special in December- our Client Christmas Party! And we are looking forward to this celebration. It's a time when we share dinner, play games and give gifts. To top it off, Santa even makes an appearance. However, Santa needs your help!

We are taking donations of gifts for children and women. If you wish to be one of Santa's helpers, please bring all donations to our office at 401 West Sandusky Street by December 15th. Take care to ensure that all toys, books, games or other gifts are nonviolent. Please do not wrap the gifts, as the women enjoy wrapping them for their children and staff wrap the gifts for women.

Check out other ways to help at the bottom of this page. See our "More Information" box and click on "Ways to Help this Holiday."

More than Security

The staff here at Open Arms has come to know our security officers well. They work during our Harmony House program, which offers supervised visits and exchanges for children. Our security officers are comprised of officers, detectives and sergeants from the Hancock County Sheriff's Office and the Findlay Police Department. We have developed wonderful working relationships with them.

These security officers have gone beyond dedicating their expertise and donated cleaning supplies to us! We are always in need of paper products and cleaning supplies, and the security officers decided to provide us with further help by donating.

In addition to this, the Findlay Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #20 gave us a cash donation! The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a national organization and the local chapter, made up of Findlay Police Officers, presented this kind donation.

We are thankful for the relationships that have been formed through working together and for your continued support!

Happy Halloween Parade

On Tuesday, October 28, we joined in the fun of Findlay's Halloween Parade. Our float featured children's houses and play sets to proudly proclaim that Open Arms promotes safe and healthy families.

The night was chilly, but the streets were lined with people enjoying the festivities. Our staff and volunteers walked alongside the float and passed out candy to children, which put a smile on their faces and ours. Thanks to all who were involved in making the float and this year's parade a success!

Donations are down

The amount of our donations are currently down. We are $7,000 behind where we normally are. And we have already eliminated some staff through attrition.

The upcoming 2009 will see some drastic changes, as funding cuts are projected next year in multiple areas. Stay tuned for details. We will keep you updated.

Training at the Sheriff's Office

We recently finished conducting training sessions at the Hancock County Sheriff's Office. The purpose of the training was to educate and remind the deputies about Domestic Violence, Rape and the services that we offer at Open Arms.

We held two training sessions that lasted four hours each. Everyone at the Sheriff's Office was very receptive and kind to the teaching, activities and games! They even gave us a cash donation! We are very grateful. Thanks for your time and support!!

Busy in October

October has been such a busy month in the Shelter program! We've been more full this month than in times past. Summer is usually the busiest time of the year, so this is a little unusual.

In fact, the number of Civil Protection Orders has nearly doubled. Beginning this year through October, we have helped 215 individuals with Civil Protection Orders. Compared to 112 Civil Protection Orders last year through this time, this is a huge increase. Our staff is hard at work and doing well despite these changes from the previous years!

Thank you, Robin!

Robin Givens, actress, author and ex-wife of Mike Tyson, was here! The time leading up to our Annual Meeting went by quickly in anticipation for her arrival, and the time she was here flew by even faster. She was wonderful.

Robin had quite a busy day leading up to our Annual Meeting. She toured our shelter and met with some of our clients and staff for lunch. Listening to her recount her experiences with domestic violence was quite powerful. Domestic Violence is an issue that can affect anyone - from Hollywood to Hancock County - and speaking out about it is critical.

Not only did Robin give a moving speech at our Annual Meeting, but she also decided to donate her shoes to us! It was great. Our theme for the evening was "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes," (which also applies to a fantastic event planned for this spring), and Robin took off her high-heeled shoes and handed them over.

Thank you, Robin! Your work speaking about Domestic Violence is inspiring many.

Panera, YUM!

This morning Keith and Beth from Mix 96.7 hosted a live remote at Panera and used the time to encourage customers to bring in non-perishables for us.

Panera generously donated a free coffee and bagel for anyone who brought things in! I was happily suprised by the large amount of items we accumulated. A lot of people just stopped to drop things off and never even asked for the free coffee and bagel. What a great community we have.

The Panera people were cheery as could be and seemed perfectly fine with their store being taken over by people, radio equipment and piles of canned goods . They were so nice.

Unfortunately today was a great day to have a load of donations for the shelter since its full of residents. Kari, the Outreach Case Manager took time out of her schedule to get the donations back to the shelter and take a picture. Nice job Kari!

And of course anywhere Keith and Beth go its a party. There was a lot of laughing and hooting and hollering. Such a fun way to do good works. Thanks everyone!

Charles Construction Services Golf Outing

As many of you know, each year Charles Construction Services organizes a golf outing that benefits us. It was held last Friday, 9/19 at Red Hawk. This was the 7th year I believe, and they were on track to break a cumulative amount raised over the 7 years of $100,000!!!

What a committment. It really is time consuming for a business to take on something like this. It has really grown into such a wonderful and unique opportunity. Its almost like a homecoming for Open Arms supporters. Every year has its fill of current and past board members, officials, donors and people who are linked to Charles Construction Services and come for the fun.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, the food from Red Pig Inn was delicious and the people at Red Hawk couldn't have been nicer. The course was gorgeous.

There were tons of great prizes donated by faithful sponsors. I think just about everyone left with something.

Thanks a ton to everyone who came out!

Zonta

Wednesday September 17th I was privileged enough to be invited as a speaker to our local Zonta Club. What a dynamic group of women!

Gender based violence is one of their areas of focus and as such they have been great supporters, both as a club and as individuals. I am always impressed with how warm and welcoming they are and how willing they are to hear about tough issues confronting our community.

I spoke about the increase we have seen in numbers of people needing services in the aftermath of the flood. Protection orders and persons sheltered have doubled, supervised visits have about tripled. These are trying times. It really helps when we know we have allies who are as concerned as we are about the issue.

Sssshhhh! Its a secret.

We have a secret, well, sort of. We have planned a new event for the Spring and if it is as much fun as we think it will be we would like to do it more than once.

Ever wished a man could walk a mile in your shoes....well maybe he can.

Go here for details: http://www.walkamileinhershoes.org/

She's almost here!!

We are getting so exicted! As many of you know, the actress Robin Givens is coming to our Annual Meeting! Jodi and I worked together for a whole day last week on finalizing details and Jodi spoke with Robin and her assistant on Friday.

They were very kind and said that Robin would be very flexible and help us in any way she could. I have seen videos of Robin speaking and she is very powerful.

Denise Brown was here last year and as many of you know the night was very moving. Denise was so down to earth and gracious. We expect another wonderful event this year. You can get tickets by calling the office, 419-420-9261, or going to our website,www.openarmsfindlay.org. Tickets are $50 for the meal and meeting where Robin will speak. For $75 you can participate in a meet and greet with Robin.

The meeting is October 6th at the Findlay Country Club at 7 p.m.

We are so lucky that Findlay Service League has stepped forward as the major sponsor to make this possible. Thank you ladies!

P.S. Robin has a role in the Tyler Perry movie, The Family that Preys. It came out Friday. Consider seeing it. It was great and Robin was of course awesome.

Prevention Programs are Booming

Erin, the Program Manager that oversees Child Advocacy and Prevention Programming stopped in my office yesterday to say that schools have been very responsive this year to scheduling prevention programs.

They scheduled more than 60 speeches for the last couple months of 2008 and she thinks the number of kids who went through prevention programs this year might be around 8,000! Thats massive!

Kudos to the teachers who take precious classroom time to host these sessions. Its got to be hard. My teacher friends can barely get regular curriculum done, adding this shows a great dedication on their part to the welfare of their students. The schools have always been gracious to us, we are proud to serve them.

And of course lets not forget the Community Foundation who made the funding of the programs possible and Jenna, our bubbly Prevention Coordinator, we're just sure she's the reason we keep getting invited back .

Calling All Board Alumni

We are trying to start a sort of Board Alumni Group. If you know anyone who previously served on the Open Arms Board ask them to contact us so we can get their updated information.

We want to keep them apprised of agency news, ask their advice for agency planning, give them advance notice of events and in 2009 we will be celebrating 30 years since our founding. We want to give our founding board members special recognition at that annual meeting.

Sure I know it s more than a year away, but if you know us you know it will take us that long to find everyone!

Welcome to the Open Arms Blog!!

Welcome! We thought we'd give this 'connection through technology' thing a try. We're rushing right into the 21st century headlong. Well...not really. I'll probably have to find a middle schooler to help me manage this thing.

Here is the serious scoop. Those of us that work and volunteer with Open Arms know what a great organization it is. We have a ton of fun and do good work. We have lots of great stories to share, needs to telegraph and interesting information about whats happening on the front lines of our community. In short, a lot to chat about!

It is often the case that there are folks who want to keep in touch with us. Its especially hard for departing board members who feel such a part of the cause to feel a bit unplugged after they leave. We thought that if we started a simple blog our supporters and interested parties could log in occassionally to check in and see what's up, sort of like visiting home for a second.

We'll post all kinds of information here, events, little stories from our daily life, information about struggles or needs, heck we'll even answer questions if you have them. You'll hear a lot from me, Beth Meeks, the Executive Director, but the Program Managers, Communications Coordinator and maybe other celebrity guests will chime in here and there.

Hurry back...I can already think of a million fun things to tell you!