Help Raise Awareness for Domestic Violence

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. One out of four women will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime, making it an issue we desperately need to talk about and work to end. 

Our October Breakfast, Transforming Lives Through the Arts, will address domestic violence and how the Center and others utilize the arts to help survivors heal. 

Please join us on October 23rd to learn about domestic violence and help us educate others. 

We hope to see you there. 

Click Here to learn more about the breakfast.

Click Here to read more about our panelists. 

Click Here to purchase tickets.

Healing Domestic Violence Through the Arts

In July, Women’s Second Start shelter staff performed a domestic violence awareness recital for residents from all three of our shelters. Shelter Director Earla Lloyd, LCSW, uses creative movement performances by staff to help domestic violence survivors understand, discuss, and heal from their experiences.

The recital is one way that Lloyd uses creative movement to help residents heal. Lloyd will discuss this staff performance, as well as weekly group therapy movement sessions, at the Center’s October Breakfast, Transforming Lives Through the Arts. We invite you to join us on Thursday, October 23^rd for breakfast and a panel discussion about domestic violence and the healing power of art.

The video “La Bella y La Bestia” (Beauty and the Beast) and songs like Leona Lewis’s “Bleeding Love” and Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter” were used to tell a story, demonstrating the realities of domestic violence from the beginning of an abusive relationship through the survivor’s empowerment.  This event demonstrated that violence occurs in all cultures, and that children are victims too.   

As the movement pieces showed the emergence of the empowered survivor, the audience’s mood changed.  Teary eyes were dried and the shelter residents began to cheer on the performers; the residents recognized their own transformation from victims to survivors in the dancers’ journey. The recital ended with the audience joining staff on stage in celebration of freedom from abuse.

Click here for more information about the October Breakfast.

Meet the Panelists of Transforming Lives Through the Arts

On Thursday, October 23rd, the Center will host its annual Domestic Violence Awareness breakfast. We're excited to welcome a diverse group of panelists who will discuss art's healing power for domestic violence survivors. Here's an introduction to our expert and inspiring panelists:

• Marcella Goheen wrote and starred in The Maria Project, an acclaimed, one woman, Off-Broadway play that tells the story of Maria Salazar, Goheen’s grandmother who was murdered by her grandfather. Ms. Goheen has since founded the Brooklyn-based Maria Project, whose mission is to dispel the myth, create awareness, and alleviate the shame around domestic violence and sexual assault. The Maria Project’s “Maria’s Voice Featuring Savion Glover” will begin its North America tour in October 2014.
   
• Ewa Grochowska is a potter/sculptor and domestic violence awareness activist, helping other survivors along their journey to build a life free from abuse. To accomplish this, she donates her time and supplies to provide art programs to children living in domestic violence shelters.
   
• Rachel Hass is a Licensed Social Worker and Play Group Therapist at Bank Street College of Education for the Center for Emotionally Responsive Practice, where she facilitates trauma-based interventions for children, teachers and families in early childhood centers throughout the city. Hass previously facilitated the Art Enrichment Program at the Center Against Domestic Violence.
   
• Earla Lloyd, LCSW, is Director at the Center’s Women’s Second Start shelter. Lloyd developed the shelter’s ExpressIt and Creative Movement program to help her residents heal from domestic violence and other traumas. The program has two components: ExpressIt movement pieces performed for shelter residents by staff and Creative Movement expressive sessions for shelter residents. Lloyd believes that movement is a key communication tool and a catalyst for healing.
   
• Terri Muuss (moderator)  is an actor, director, teacher, motivational speaker, life coach and social worker who specializes in the use of the arts as a healing mechanism for trauma survivors. She teaches a course at Rutgers University to social workers entitled Youth Development Through the Written Arts and her poetry has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Her poetic memoir Over Exposed (JB Stillwater, 2013) was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and her one-woman show Anatomy of a Doll  was named the “Best Theatre: Critics’ Pick of the Week” by the New York Daily News and has been performed throughout the US and Canada since 1998. www.terrimuuss.com

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets to the breakfast.


We hope to see you there!

Tickets Now On Sale

A limited number of Early Bird tickets are available through September 23rd.

Click here to purchase tickets, 10 seat tables, or become a sponsor. 

Learn more about our event and panelists.

We hope to see you there!

Save the Date - More Info to Come!

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.