Silent No More

Tomorrow marks the first day of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. To symbolize that we are united to end domestic violence in our community, YWCA staff members and other domestic violence advocates will join police officers, public officials, legal professionals, religious leaders, healthcare workers, neighbors and friends on Thursday in a silent protest against domestic violence.

Organized by the YWCA Resolve Family Abuse Program, this demonstration along Kanawha Boulevard will urge the Charleston community to take a stand against this horrific and incresingly prevelant societal problem. In past years in West Virginia, domestic violence related homicides occured at an average rate of once every two weeks. In 2006 and 2007, this statistic skyrocketed to once every 8 days.

We must join together – men and women – to address the causes of domestic violence and raise our collective voices to create a community that no longer tolerates the use of violence in relationships. We are all stakeholders and advocates in the fight for peace and safety in our homes and neighborhoods.

The “Silent No More” demonstration will be held on Thursday, October 2 from 5:00 – 6:00 pm along Kanawha Boulevard between Leon Sullivan Way and Morris Street. A vigil and reception will follow from 6:30 – 8:00 pm at the YWCA on Quarrier Street. The vigil will include remarks from community leaders, testimonials from domestic violence survivors, inspirational songs and a keynote address from West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland.

The purpose of the evening is to:

1. Stand in protest against the devastation of domestic violence
2. Remember those whose lives were tragically lost as a result
3. Raise awareness about the prevalence of domestic violence in our community and our state
4. Celebrate survivors and the hundreds of individuals and organizations that helped them through their struggle.

We invite you to both participate in the silent protest and attend the vigil.

There are many ways to let your voice be heard. Take a stand against domestic violence.

Y you should vote

Less than 100 years ago, our foremothers fought to secure the right for all women to vote. To be viewed as equal citizens in our country and have a say in shaping our future.

Our country has reached a new milestone with the first African-American nominee for president and the first woman vice president nominee. It's an exciting time in American history.

Not only is our nation making history, but the YWCA has also reached an important milestone in its 100-year history. For the first time, the YWCA (the nation's oldest and largest women's organization) will be a national sponsor of the 2008 presidential debates. As a sponsor, the YWCA has also taken the initiative to create a voter guide that covers issues that relate to the YWCA's mission of eliminating racism and empowering women. Issues such as affordable healthcare and housing; ending violence against women; providing quality early childhood education; equal pay for equal work; ending discrimination and promoting equality and strengthening hate crime laws.

These issues are discussed at length on the YWCA's new website ywcavote. It's about your vote. Making your voice heard so you have a role in shaping your future. This powerful tool allows you to register to vote; learn about the important issues our country faces and even become a community activist.

We encourage you to use this tool. Refer your mothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, nieces, friends, coworkers and neighbors to the site. But most importantly, encourage all women to exercise the right that our foremothers fought so hard to earn just 88 years ago.

Note: This Friday marks the first presidential debate. The two presidential nominees -- Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama -- will debate foreign policy and national security during a 90-minute event that begins at 9 p.m. EST.

good food, good fun, great cause

Last night, close to 200 men came together to cheer on the Mountaineers at the 3rd Annual Guys Night Out, while raising money for the YWCA Sojourner's Shelter. This fun-filled night - complete with brews, BBQ, cigars, games, raffles and plenty of football - boasted our biggest turnout yet!

Proceeds from last night's event will help fund critical programs at YWCA Sojourner's. In the past year alone, YWCA Sojourner's provided services to 1,080 unduplicated individuals - 338 of which were homeless children. Take a look some of our other 2007-2008 highlights:

• Served an average of 62 people nightly in the 75-bed facility
• Provided 5,530 case management/counseling hours
• Provided 81,305 nutritious meals
• Provided 19,202 shelter nights
• Provided 4,537 hours of service and support through 408 volunteers

Furthermore:

• 92% of residents found and maintained housing beyond six months
• 86% of program participants gained meaningful employment, and 98% maintained that employment
• 87% of program participants moved to a higher educational level
• 533 individuals participated in the educational program, were tested, and received classroom instruction
• 301 individuals improved their computer skills
• 22 participants entered college or vocational school

A huge thanks to our many wonderful Guys Night Out sponsors, volunteers, and attendees. We couldn't have done it without you!

Top picture (L to R): Joe Long, Jeff Sandridge, Rob Rosano, Margaret Taylor (YWCA Sojourner's Shelter Director), Justin Southern, Randy Daniel, Debby Weinstein (YWCA Executive Director) and Paul Buechler.

Left: Guys tried their luck at the football throw contest during halftime.

Right: They couldn't wait to get their hands on the 400 lbs of pork BBQ hot off the grill!

YW benefits from Day of Caring

Hundrends of volunteers dedicated their afternoons to giving back to their community in an unique way.

Each year, the United Way of Central West Virginia hosts the Day of Caring. It's a way for corporations and businesses to support non-profit agencies that receive United Way funding through a hands-on experience. These volunteers get to see firsthand how their financial support benefits the area's non-profits.

The YWCA is proud to be a part of the United Way network. We are thankful for the annual volunteer support we receive through the Day of Caring. Over the years, our programs have benefited from volunteer work with new landscaping at our facilities, newly painted interiors and safer playgrounds.

We thank those who support our agency through our partner, United Way, and who took the time out of their busy work schedules today to volunteer at our facilities: the Child Enrichment Center (CEC), The Shanklin Center, Past & Present, Resolve Family Abuse Program and Sojourners.

It's through your financial support and volunteer efforts that we are able to continue to provide the critical social services programs to thousands in the Greater Kanawha Valley each year.

Pictured are: State Farm Insurance employees at CEC: (front row) Scott Lipford, Lee Greenhowe, Bobby Robinson, Angie Cooke, Jocie Longinger, Tim Conley and Shannon Cazad; (top) Sharon Templeton, Susan Miller, Mary Beth Conley, Patricia Paul and Robin O’Dell

A big splash for Betty Schoenbaum

On Tuesday, we celebrated the grand opening of our newly renovated building at 1114 Quarrier Street! During our "big splash" to honor Betty Schoenbaum, children from the YWCA Child Enrichment Center were the first to make their own splash in the new Schoenbaum pool. The YWCA dedicated the new aquatic facility to Betty Schoenbaum to honor her $150,000 donation to the project and to recognize her enduring heart for the Charleston community.

For those who are unfamiliar with the building project, the YWCA launched the Raise the Roof building renovations campaign in January of 2007. Through this campaign, we raised $1.1 million to replace our 1920s building’s leaking roof and HVAC systems, repair the exterior bricks and columns, replace the swimming pool and hot tub, renovate the locker rooms, and freshen up the interior with new paint and carpet.

At 91-years old, Betty Schoenbaum continues to be a inspirational philanthropist in the Charleston community. When asked by a reporter to describe how it feels to be able to give back in this way, she replied: "I tell people sometimes I have so much joy in me I think my skin might burst some day."

We truly appreciate everything Mrs. Schoenbaum has done to help women, children, and families all over the world, and we applaud her for joining in our mission of providing peace, justice, dignity and freedom for all people.

Another domestic violence homicide...what will it take?

Tuesday night, 28-year-old Starlena Pratt of South Charleston died one month after suffering severe burns over the majority of her body. While this tragic news alone is enough to evoke feelings of grief from people who never knew Starlena or her family, the horrific story of her murder should appall all who hear. But has it?

Reports state that on August 3rd, Starlena's boyfriend Farley Allen Rhodes doused her in a flamable liquid and set her on fire in their South Charleston apartment, after Starlena had entered their home and told Rhodes she was going to leave him. While Starlena desperately clung to her life in Cabell Huntington Hospital, police arrested Rhodes and charged him with one count of arson causing serious bodily injury and two counts of first-degree arson. Media downplayed the issue – covering the story almost three days after the incident but still only mentioning that “a woman was burned in a house fire in South Charleston.”

This grisly murder comes on the heels of another equally horrific domestic violence homicide only two months ago, when Nalisha Gravely was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend at the West Side Taco Bell. While our community was outraged over that atrocity, our vigor seems to have waned. Did anyone else find it shocking that Starlena's death did not even make the front page of yesterday's newspaper...while news about Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming hiring new employees did?

This is a sad reflection of our community – and of our society in general – which seems to have fallen back into complacency about the real problem of domestic violence in our own backyards. Rev. Matthew Watts, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Charleston and respected community leader, described the trend of domestic violence in our community as "pandemic". The only way we can reverse this pandemic is if every member of this community stands together and takes responsibility for eliminating domestic violence. How many murders will we read about but still look the other way? What will it take to get our community outraged about this young woman's death?

We applaud organizations like West Virginia Radio Corporation, who understand the gravity of this tragedy and took the initiative to host a Circle of Hope fundraiser yesterday afternoon for Starlena's family, raising more than $3,000. Through the YWCA Resolve Family Abuse Program, we will continue to do our part in the grand scheme of eliminating domestic violence in our community as well.

We will continue to provide a 24-hour crisis line, where advocates can help victims who are trying to leave their abusers plan safe escapes – as leaving can be the most dangerous time in an abusive relationship. We will continue to give presentations to more than 3,000 middle and high school students each year on the warning signs of teen dating violence and on the dangers of relationships dominated by jealousy, power, violence and control. We will continue to provide free shelter, support, counseling and court advocacy to victims of domestic violence.

What will you do?

A Labor Day reflection

We welcome Janet James, a current YWCA Board member, as our third guest blogger. Janet is the Assistant Attorney General at the West Virginia Attorney General's Office in Charleston, WV and has served on the YWCA of Charleston's Board of Directors since 2005.

Yesterday, we celebrated Labor Day to commemorate the social and economic achievements of American workers. While our nation has truly made great progress since Labor Day was first declared a federal holiday over a century ago, we recognize that many changes still need to be made.

The fact is, women still lag behind men in education and in earnings. Although progress has been made, especially in the last three decades, there remain monumental gaps in the real-world equities between men and women. White women continue to earn a mere 77 cents to every dollar a man makes, while for black and Hispanic women the gap is even greater, dropping to 65 cents on the dollar for black women, and 54 cents for Hispanic women.

Over the course of a career, this puts a woman hundreds of thousands of dollars behind a man. Over a lifetime, a young woman who graduates from high school this year and goes straight to work at $20,000 a year will make $700,000 less than a young man who graduates with her; a woman who graduates from college into a $30,000 starting salary will make $1.2 million less than a young man graduating with her; and a young woman who gets a degree in business, medicine or law and graduates into a $70,000 a year job will make $2 million less than her male classmate. Only 11 of the Fortune 500 companies are led by women, and women make up only 14.7 percent of the board seats of Fortune 500 companies.

The wage gap is the result of a variety of forms of sex discrimination in the workplace, including discrimination in hiring, promotion and pay, sexual harassment, occupational segregation, bias against mothers (in 2005, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported 4,449 charges of pregnancy-based discrimination), and other ways in which women workers and women’s work are undervalued. The long-standing stereotypes associated with men and women contributes to this problem. In the workplace, men are considered more likely to take charge of a situation. Women are considered sympathetic, caring and more supportive, and not as capable at solving problems, a necessary quality in CEOs.

As a consequence of this economic disparity, women are also greatly under-represented in local, state and national political government. This economic and political disparity causes a steady drain on women’s receiving better medical treatment, child care, housing, food, and retirement savings; and worse, places women at a greater risk of homelessness, or inability to leave abusive domestic situations.

Since its inception in 1858, the YWCA has fought for women’s rights, notably in the women’s suffrage movement, and later in the civil rights movement. Today, Racial Justice and the Economic Empowerment of Women are two of the national YWCA’s hallmark programs. Through programs like the YWCA Sojourner's Job Education/Readiness Center, the YWCA of Charleston works daily to promote education and economic empowerment here in our city.