Giving Tuesday 2014

#GivingTuesday is almost here! Tomorrow, on Tuesday December 2nd, the Center Against Domestic Violence will be participating in Giving Tuesday. Please show support on this generous day! The holidays can be are a hard time, but it is always difficult for families dealing with the trauma of domestic violence and the hardship of starting a new life. Please donate funds for gift cards so parents we shelter can purchase holiday presents for their children.   We're asking you to help ease the financial burden of buying gifts so that survivors of domestic violence can celebrate this December!

Amazon Smile: You Shop, Amazon Gives

We're thrilled to announce the newest way to support CADV: shopping with Amazon Smile!


With Amazon Smile, Amazon donates 0.5% of eligible purchases to CADV. The shopping experience, prices, and products are exactly the same - you just have a new excuse to shop on Amazon :)


To get started, click here and sign into your Amazon account or create an account. Search for "Center Against Domestic Violence" in the box on the right and select us as your charity.


Every time you shop, you are contributing to ending violence.


Please spread the word! Thank you so much for your unwavering support.

Why We Run: Spanish Speaking Support Group

On March 16th, the CADV Half Marathon team will run a combined 65.5 miles through Manhattan in the  NYC Half. For our team, this is more than just a race -- each runner has committed to fundraise $1,500 for the Center's Survivor Advocacy and Community Based services.




Learn More about the team and support our runners!




Part of the funds raised will benefit the Center's Spanish Speaking Support Group, which serves Spanish speaking survivors of domestic violence. The women are in all different stages of rebuilding their lives: some used to live in one of our shelters, some are still living with a batterer, some are living on their own without having ever been to emergency shelter.




Most new participants are invited by a friend or acquaintance who attends or has attended the group. The group grows organically in the community through word of mouth recruitment by fellow survivors.




The two case managers who run the group encourage the women to integrate into their communities and to learn to independently negotiate their environments. At each meeting, the case managers run a workshop to teach skills that will empower the survivors to live independently and healthily. Workshop topics include budgeting, safety planning, safe housing, parenting skills, and women's health. There are also workshops on yoga, self case, and clothing design, to build self esteem and encourage emotional healing. Because many attendees are immigrants, the group covers topics pertaining specifically to immigrants, such as how to obtain a U Visa.




Many of the group members utilize the Center's other services. (These services, which include 1-on-1 counseling, safety planning, and referrals, are also supported by the Half Marathon team!) This holistic approach helps survivors become safe and independent.




The communal aspect of the support group is its most important feature. Some research indicates that the most useful tool for victims of domestic violence is the support group. The group experience allows individuals to see how the same patterns of power and control take place in all abusive relationships. This knowledge helps them to understand the dynamics of their abusive relationship more clearly. The group also reduces feelings of isolation and allows participants to develop supportive relationships with each other. Friendship building is encouraged at teach meeting.


We care deeply about this program and are so grateful to our runners for committing to help provide a space for survivor empowerment.

Support our runners and the Spanish Speaking Support Group here.

Why We Run: Survivor Advocacy and Community Based Services

On March 16th, the CADV Half Marathon team will run a combined 65.5 miles through Manhattan in the #NYCHalf. For our team, this is more than just a race-- each runner has committed to fundraise at least $1,500 for the Center's Survivor Advocacy and Community Based services.


Learn More about the team and support our runners!


The Survivor Advocacy and Community Based services are one branch of our organization; The Center also runs 3 emergency shelters for survivors and their children and develops and runs anti teen dating violence and anti bullying curriculum for public school students grades 3-12. The Survivor Advocacy and Community Based services support women living on their own (or with a batterer) who are in all different stages of safety planning and healing.


These services include:

• Community Outreach - A team of volunteers distributes pamphlets, runs an information booth at events, and presents workshops for various organizations and groups to raise awareness about domestic violence and provide resources to get help.
• Spanish Speaking Support Group - Spanish speaking survivors meet weekly with a Center social worker. This is a tight knit community through which the Center can administer services and support in many forms.
• 1 on 1 Case Managing - Center social workers provide counseling, safety planning, legal referrals and support in court, assistance obtaining crime victims' compensation and orders of protection, and other services.

Thank you to our runners who committed to 13.1 miles and $1,500 to support these services!


Support our runners and our programs here.

Run the NYC Half Marathon with the CADV Team

Join the Team

Team Members commit to raise $1,500 to support our life saving programs. Team members receive:

• Guaranteed NYC Half entry
• Entry fee paid by CADV
• CADV Team T-Shirt
• Personal online fundraising page
• Fundraising support from CADV staff

How to Apply

Email MSangiolo@CenterAgainstDV.org to request an application.

Why We Run

The 2014 Half Marathon team will fundraise for our survivor advocacy and community based services. We provide 1-on-1 case managing, referrals, and safety planning, run weekly support groups in English and Spanish, and outreach in the community.


As a member of the CADV Half Marathon team, you will raise $1,500 to help NYC families rebuild their lives.


CADV works toward a society free from violence by offering a range of programs for education, prevention, and intervention. Together we can eliminate domestic violence in our communities.

Questions?

Contact Magdalen at MSangiolo@CenterAgainstDV.org or 718-254-9134.


Click here for more information about the NYC Half.

New Years' Resolutions that Support the Center

Get in Shape

Run the NYC Half Marathon with the CADV team! Fundraise to support our survivor advocacy and community outreach programs. More info.

 

 

Spend Time Outside

Ride through all five boroughs during the TD Five Boro Bike Tour! As a CADV Bike Team Member, you will raise money to support our services and allow us to pilot new programs. More info.

 

Have More Fun 

Attend our event, Stand Up Against Domestic Violence, on April 10th, 2014. It will be a night of comedy performances, a silent auction, and refreshments, all benefiting the Center. More info.

 

Give Back

 

 

For more than 35 years, the Center has been working toward a society free from violence by transforming the lives of survivors and raising awareness in our communities. This year, help us end relationship violence. More info.

 

 

 

 

Last Chance to Give in 2013

We at the Center Against Domestic Violence wish you all the best for a safe and violence-free 2014!

We know from your past support that you care about ending domestic violence, teen dating abuse and bullying.  That’s why we're reminding you that your final chance to make a tax deductible donation for 2013 is fast approaching.

Remember, all gifts to the Center Against Domestic Violence are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

Thanks to your donations to the Center, a thousand women and children found safety in our shelters this year, and another 30,000 high school and intermediate school students learned how to have healthy relationships and how to end bullying and abuse.  The Center has been working hard to end abuse since 1976, but we need your help to support thousands of women, men, children and teens to live healthy, happy lives unthreatened by violence.

I hope you’ll join us as we prepare for another year of life saving and life changing services.  If you have already made your year end gift, thank you.  If you haven't donated yet, please click here to donate.

Thank you for all you do to end violence in relationships.

 

Happy new year!



Help us ring in 2014 - Give the Gift of Safety to survivors as they rebuild their lives in the new year.

Help Survivors Feel Joy Again

Last Christmas I was delighted to receive this thank you letter.

Our staff strives each and every day to make sure this story is not unique - that it’s the story everyone leaving our shelters can tell. All of our work is made possible by people like you who choose each year support the Center so that domestic violence survivors like this family can feel joy again.  

Here is Ms. M.’s letter –

“I would like to thank all of you.  “Unfortunately my family has been to a lot of domestic violence shelters since 2005.  We honestly were not happy to return this time.  But the day when we walked through these doors, my children and I cried tears of relief and joy.  We actually were in a place that was immaculate.  We couldn’t believe this was a shelter!  And the kids were overjoyed they had TV to watch.  Until today, when we are days away from opening a new door to a place called home, we are thankful for Women’s Second Start.

“I realize - wow, this place is heaven-sent, with real angels!  All of you have opened your hearts and cared unconditionally for each of us.  There has never been a time when anyone has closed a door or refused to help us.  This truly has been a great experience for me and my children.

“I was very worried about Christmas since I had hardly any money and I couldn’t buy my kids gifts.  On Christmas Eve, my son Wilfredo told me, ‘Mommy, this has been the best Christmas ever!’  I almost fell to the floor! Could this be my Mr. Materialistic-Thirteen-Year-Old - the boy with so much anger from witnessing too much?  Thank you all so very much for putting joy back in our lives!”  From Ms. M. for Tiffany, David and Wilfredo

The shelter Ms. M., Tiffany, David and Wilfredo walked into, Women’s Second Start, is located in Northern Manhattan.  Every year, the individualized services provided by Women’s Second Start give more than a hundred women and three hundred children the tools they need to break the pattern of domestic violence and start life anew – with joy. 

As the year draws to a close, we're asking you to support the Center Against Domestic Violence fulfill it's mission - ending violence in our communities.  We know you want to live in the same world as us, where children grow up in positive environments and gender-based violence is non-existant.  Your support of the Center brings us closer to that shared vision; please consider making a donation today.

Thank you and Happy Holidays,

Judith Kahan,

Chief Executive Officer

Support our shelters - Give the Gift of Safety to families fleeing domestic violence.

Four Unique Ways to Support the Center

Run the NYC Half Marathon

Join the CADV team and fundraise to support our survivor advocacy and community outreach program. More Info.

 

 

Bike the TD Five Boro Bike Tour

 

As a CADV Bike Team Member, you will raise money to support our services and allow us to pilot new programs. More Info.

 

 

 

 

Attend our Spring Gala 

 

Save the Date - April 10th, 2014. More Info.

 

 

 

Ask your Workplace to Match a Gift

 

Many corporations and foundations will match or double your personal donation. Some will even match gifts made by retirees and/or spouses. Contact your Human Resources Department about the matching gift policy at your workplace.

 

Mail your completed matching gift form to the Center Against Domestic Violence at 25 Chapel Street, Suite 904, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Email an online form to 

MSangiolo@CenterAgainstDV.org. We will do the rest!

 

To double your year-end donation to the Center, please DONATE NOW and check “My employer has a matching gift program.”

The Most Important Gift you can Give this Holiday Season

Give to safeguard families fleeing domestic violence.   Give to free our communities of relationship abuse and bullying. Give the Gift of Safety

For more than 35 years, the Center Against Domestic Violence has been working toward a society free from violence by transforming the lives of victims and raising awareness in our communities. Thank you for helping us end domestic violence. Donate

A Teachable Moment This Thanksgiving

The Center Against Domestic Violence believes that violence is a learned response that can be stopped with early education.  One skill we teach students from third grade on up is how to be responsible bystanders.  A bystander is someone who is present at an event, but not involved, like a witness.  A responsible bystander knows what behavior is OK and what is not OK and is empowered to speak up or get help.  Young people armed with the tools to help their friends or acquaintances are less likely to become bullies, abusers or victims.  

This month has seen a sharp increase in conversations about bullying among the most unlikely group of people – young men between 18 and 30.  Why?  Because Miami Dolphin Offensive Tackle Jonathan Martin left the team after his teammate Richie Incognito sent him threatening texts and emails.  Exposing this behavior has made big news.  Everyone has an opinion: that a 312 pound football player should have stood up for himself; that the team should have stood up for Martin; that Incognito’s threatening was just kidding and regular locker room horseplay; that Martin should get tougher; or that Incognito should never have made threats and racial slurs.  

Martin could not have been new to locker room jests; he has been playing great football since he was a child and he was regarded as the No. 3 tackle prospect in the 2012 NFL Draft.  At Stanford he was All Pacific-10 and an All American pick who earned All-American honors.  He knew about and understood locker room hijinks – and when someone was kidding or not.

I doubt that Martin was new to racial slurs, having grown up in a world where, unlike sports, African-Americans were a distinct minority.  He was the first person in three generations of his family not to attend Harvard; he was prep school educated and majored in Classics at Stanford.  He knew about racial stereotyping and whether someone was kidding or not.

So, all that and Incognito’s shocking and obscene texts and clips that have become public knowledge aside, what can we learn from this incident, which is just being investigated by the National Football League this week?

• We can learn about the power of the bystander.  If the Dolphins had said, “Hey, cut it out, that’s not OK,” chances are Martin’s hazing would have taken on a different character. Incognito is scary, but so is a locker room full of gridiron warriors.
• We can learn about asserting ourselves.  This is not the only instance of workplace bullying, just one with immensely larger characters.  Bullying in the workplace needs to be reported before it can be stopped. 
• Finally, if you listen to all the talk about how Martin should have “manned up,” we can learn how far we have to go to eradicate gender stereotypes.  Gender stereotypes hurt us all. 

This is a supremely teachable moment.  Take time around the Thanksgiving table to ask what people think about the Incognito/Martin situation and how situations like this should be handled in sports, in the workplace, in life. 

Best wishes for a great holiday from the Center Against Domestic Violence.  We are thankful for your support.

Luz's Story has a Happy Ending

In this season of hope and giving, I am cheered by the stories of the people we serve.  People – usually parents and usually women – come to the Center Against Domestic Violence for help at the lowest point of their lives.  They only reach out when domestic violence has threatened their lives or the lives of their children.  They leave the Center with renewed joy, skills and one step closer to a bright future.

The other day I received a gift from one of our longstanding Tuesday Morning Support Group members, a hand wrapped pen that said “Center Against DV”.  Our Spanish speaking Tuesday group has been meeting for over ten years with a regular attendance of 20 or so women.  We have seen support group infants grow up and become school aged and support group school aged children enter high school.  The Center is committed to be there as long as we are needed.

Luz* was referred to our support group by her friend Gloria*.  Since leaving her abusive boyfriend several years ago, Gloria had been coming to group.  Many of the issues participants face have as much to do with immigration as with the abuse they suffered.  The Center helped Gloria with her immigration problems, and now Gloria was helping her friend Luz.

When Luz’s husband sent for her and their two children to come join him in the United States, it seemed like a dream.  It was so difficult in Mexico, even with the remittances Miguel* sent every month.

The family settled in Sunset Park, and from the outside they seemed happy.  What no one in their church or the children’s school knew was that every night Miguel would abuse Luz.  First the abuse was verbal and emotional – he constantly told her she was worthless.  Then when she became pregnant, the abuse became sexual and physical.

Luz put up with Miguel for the sake of the children, but then, one night while the children were getting ready for bed, Luz caught Miguel peeping at their 12 year old daughter Susana* getting undressed.  When she confronted him, he beat her senseless and left the house.  Luz called the police and Miguel was arrested.

The Center Against Domestic Violence Crime Victims Program is helping Luz and the children rebuild their lives.  The children are in counseling and we have helped Luz and the two older children successfully apply for visas.

Now Luz and the children live together safely in Brooklyn.  Luz makes ends meet by creating and selling handcrafts.  She created my Center Against DV pen as her way of saying “thanks”.

I say “thanks”, as well.  Thanks to all of you for supporting the Center Against Domestic Violence as we change and grow to fulfill our mission – ending domestic violence in our communities.  Through prevention, intervention and education, the Center is working to create a world without violence.

Please help us end domestic violence by supporting our work today.

Thank you and happy holidays.

-- Judith Kahan, CEO

* All names changed to protect identities.

Fall Breakfast 2012: Preventing College Dating and Sexual Violence

The Center Against Domestic Violence Presents

Building Healthy Relationships: Preventing Sexual Assault & Dating Violence on Campus

Audrey Meredith & Kyle Rosenbaum – Event Co-Chairs

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

8:00 am- 9:30 am

The Harvard Club

35 West 44th Street, NY

Join us for breakfast.

Hear from advocates dedicated to stopping sexual assault, harassment and dating violence on campus.  

Keynote Speaker 

Jovan Martinez

Former RAPP Peer Leader

Deborah M. Stuckey Family Scholarship Recipient

Junior -Virginia Commonwealth University

Moderator

Susan Xenarios

Director

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Crime Victims Treatment Program

Panelists

Rhiannon Auriemma

Student Peer Health Advocate

The New School

Guarav Jashani

Coordinator, Men’s Peer Education Program

Columbia University

Emily May

Executive Director

Hollaback!