Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 1

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Volunteer Voice
January 3, 2009
STAFF Genevieve N. Waller, Esq. Executive Director Joan Amado, LMSW, MPA Director of Crisis Services Sherry Lewis, MA, LPC Director of Therapy and Outreach Katie Reid, MSW Community Education Program Director Mary Dell Hayes Volunteer Services Coordinator Melanie Griffin, MSW Sexual Assault Services Coordinator Daphne Pearson, MA, LPC-I Advocate Counselor
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Jennifer Gantt, MSW Group Services Coordinator Georgina Hance Office Manager
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IN THIS ISSUE 
January Calendar News and Upcoming Events Ask An Advocate Updates Saturday, January 16 from 10:00am—2:00pm: Health Fair at Bibleway Church on Atlas Road. Share information with the community about the impact of sexual assault and encourage them to join you in the fight to end it.
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Monday, January 18: Earn $35 for being on call! The office will be closed. Join us at the STSM office on Thursday, January 28 for dinner and to learn about managing stress and burn out. RSVP by Monday, January 25 to make sure we have enough dinner! Friday, January 29: from 11:30am—1:30pm: Share information with college students about STSM services and opportunities they have to get involved.
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STSM Hires New Bilingual Victim Advocate
STSM welcomes Emily Flores as our new staff advocate. Emily is focusing on working with underserved populations, particularly those from rural or Hispanic communities and is a qualified interpreter. Emily has completed all of her coursework for her Master‘s in Sociology degree from USC and is working on her thesis. Emily has worked for DJJ and is the former director for Champs Mentoring Program. Emily lived in Chile for six months and has traveled in Mexico and the Honduras. Emily has a wonderful husband (Lloyd), seven year old daughter (Sofia), and a new baby on the way in June! If you have a hospital call with a survivor who speaks Spanish, Emily will meet you there.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
April will be a busy month for STSM and we want you to be a part of the fun! Here is a preview of what we will be offering: Walk a Mile in Her Shoes © provides a great opportunity for men to get involved in the fight against sexual violence and in educating the community. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes © asks men to literally walk one mile in women's high-heeled shoes to rally the community to fight against sexual violence. STSM‘s goal is to help men understand and appreciate women‘s experiences, and realize that this is not only a women‘s issue. This is also an opportunity for the community to become aware of services provided for those survivors of sexual assault. Get together with your co-workers, friends, and family and join us on Wednesday, April 14 at 6:00pm for a fun-filled mile. We will also have a Community Partner Appreciation event, Rape Aggression Defense Training taught by Richland County Sheriff‘s Department, Denim Day, and our annual golf tournament.
It’s a Boy!
Congratulations to Volunteer Advocate Rebecca Rabern and her husband Rainey on the birth of their son, Chase. Chase was born on December 29, 2009. We are so excited to welcome Baby Chase (and his beautiful head of hair!) to the world.
THANK YOU! Thank you to Kazumi Sato, Lee Patterson, Marlene Sellars, Terri Summers, Arlene Posey, Karen Sundstrom. Emily Flores, James DuBose, Kyra Hufford, LaCrystal Foreman, Monika Carey-Green, and Cindi Ford for covering shifts over the holidays. We appreciate your willingness to donate your time on these special days to help survivors.
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Ask an Advocate
This month‘s Ask an Advocate is written by Karen Sundstrom. Karen has been a Volunteer Advocate with STSM since 1992. Karen teaches self-defense classes. She also enjoys reading and cooking.
Meet Dannielle. And Shayna. And Glorya. And Robert. It‘s not likely you‘ll ever meet them in real life unless you work with STSM or other groups but it‘s not hard to imagine them. They are kids, just kids, Rambunctious and funny; sometimes loud or quiet; they love different things – animals, toys, cake, colors. And it‘s not hard to feel enraged on their behalf. They are all small survivors of sexual abuse; sometimes accompanied by other physical abuse but always, always joined by emotional hurt and aggression that would stop your heart if you heard it. They‘ve been used by someone older, used like a thing, a receptacle, an object. Used to get someone else off. The ‗someone‘ is someone close, usually. Someone they should trust, someone they are told they ought to trust. Someone they continue to tell themselves they must trust, or the world as they know it will be turned upside down and that is too terrifying to endure. So they continue to try to survive in a crazy world, bewildered and frightened, pretending, often, that everything is fine. Your heart breaks for them and your anger at the predators is enormous. Now meet Christine, Shayna, Annette and Eric. These are the ones that make you nuts. Shayna is 14 and pregnant, and just shrugs; Christine chugs and cuts (herself). Glorya is invisible and knows how to disappear if you catch a glimpse of her. Robert is trouble on two legs and really, really likes things that burn. When they show up on a tv screen or in the gossip grapevine it‘s infuriating. They are ―wild, got no morals, spoiled, empty, cruel, excused.‖ ―Crack down‖ sounds like a good response, or at least one we can understand and make sense of: try boot camp or scare them straight. Let them know what they‘ve let themselves in for – a miserable future. As though they don‘t already know what is waiting ahead. The first and second groups are the same children. Join the first and middle names. Look at their stories, if you can bear them. Take in the truth of four words: hurt people hurt people. First, and most often, they hurt themselves. Why not? Someone they trusted didn‘t think they were valuable. Why should they? Scientific research is helping the picture clear. Abuse hurts kids – and the emotional damage is great. Kids can be resilient, when and if they can tell somebody, anybody who will listen, care, help, make it stop; stay calm but resolute in their defense. Most kids tell no one. Disclosure may not come for years, but the hurting shows up. Second, they hurt others. Some turn it outward towards the world that the abuser lives in. Some do both – some simply vanish in front of our eyes. The most frequent people seen at Sexual Trauma Services are adult survivors of sexual abuse done to them earlier in their lives. The hurt done to little kids and young ones brings ringing calls for enforcement and action. Visible damage seen in the lives of adult survivors is denied or ignored or called something else. Some survivors heal, prosper and live. Many don‘t. We embrace the first and avert our gaze from the chaotic others. It‘s easier this way – for us. If we recognized the presence of sexual abuse in the lives of violent boys, teen hookers, alcoholic women, destructive adolescents and adults we would have to face how much a part of our culture it is, and facing that truth has seemed intolerable until recently. But now, finally, many people are facing it, refusing to be overwhelmed or hopeless, picking up the tools they can find or create and digging in for the long haul. Some of the bravest are the survivors themselves, reaching out for a full life they sometimes can only see in someone else‘s words. Today we recognize teachers, parents, counselors, any adults who are willing to face darkness and help turn the violence and rage into creativity and health, even for survivors who ―hurt people‖. Adults with clear vision see the child in the teen and the adult. They see and say out loud that we must stop those who hurt others while requiring of our culture that we also stop the self-inflicted harm and the ugly beginning to the cycle. That‘s a big part of STSM‘s work. That‘s what we need your time and money and presence to accomplish. Come join us. Pick up a tool. Make a way out of no way.* * With appreciation to Modjeska M. Simpkins
December Call Totals
Total Hospital Calls: 22 Hospital Calls answered by volunteers: 18 Hospital Calls answered by staff: 4 Total Hotline Calls: 8 Hotline Calls answered by volunteers: 5 Hotline Calls answered by staff: 3
Updates and Other Important Information
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Please treat our lockers like you would want your own treated. It‘s hard for other advocates to be able to locate what they need when things have been scattered, smothered, and covered.
Upcoming Dates to Remember: Friday, January 29: Speaker‘s Bureau Event at Allen University from 11:30am—1:30pm Thursday, January 28: CE Event on Stress Management Saturday, February 6—Thursday, February 11: Winter Volunteer Advocate Training Saturday, March 13: St Pat‘s in Five Points Tuesday, March 16: Volunteer Coffee Hour at 6:00pm Thursday, April 1: Sexual Assault Awareness Month Kickoff Tuesday, April 13: Community Partner Appreciation Event Wednesday, April 14: Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Monday, April 19: Tee It Up for STSM Golf Tournament Tuesday, May 4: CE Event Saturday, June 12—Thursday June 17: Summer Volunteer Advocate Training
***You must attend at least one continuing education event and one anonymous kit training for this fiscal year! Attend early and attend often!***