Category: Current Events

Dear All,

It has been almost a year since COVID-19 drastically changed our everyday lives. While there is hope on the horizon for a return to some sense of normalcy, it is still unclear how far off that return will be. Even as the vaccine rollout begins to take off, experts still recommend practicing social distancing and avoiding large gatherings.

For these reasons, we have determined that, in order to keep our community safe, we need to postpone our BBS event. The new date for the 26th Annual BBS Award Event honoring Elizabeth Smart will be May 12th, 2022 at the Princeton Marriott. As previously mentioned, all sponsors and tickets will carry over to the new date.

As we draw closer to the event and finalize more details, we will reach out and share more information. Please follow our website and social media pages for updates.

Warm regards and please stay safe!

The Womanspace Team

National Stalking Awareness Month

To raise awareness during National Stalking Awareness Month, Womanspace is hosting a virtual event with the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC) and is inviting you to attend.

The session will focus on:

– Prevalence and dynamics of stalking
– Common stalking behaviors and how to identify them
– Intersection with domestic violence and sexual assault
– Safety planning

The event will take place on Tuesday, January 19th from 11AM to 12PM with a Q&A until 12:30PM. If you are interested in attending, please click here to register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We hope to see you there!

Thank you to all who participated!

On Monday, December 7th at dusk, Mercer County shone brightly for the 19th Annual Communities of Light. We saw a tremendous outpouring of community support around the county. This event culminated with lightings in municipalities, businesses, neighborhoods, and individuals. Despite the global health crisis at hand, we were able to illuminate the streets and keep everyone’s health and well being in mind. We would also like to thank New Jersey Buzz for allowing us to share this event with everyone at home by live streaming town lightings.

Once again, thank you so much to all that participated. This event serves as a powerful symbol of hope in our community and spreads the message that Peace Begins at Home.

Kristin Keller, Melissa Tenzer, and Honorary Chair Paula Sollami-Covello

Weeden Park Gazebo in Lawrenceville, NJ

Luminaries in Lawrenceville, NJ

Princeton Academy

West Windsor Township

Hopewell Police Department

Dandelion Wishes in Hopewell, NJ

Board member Dana Fraytak Troiano’s home in Pennington, NJ

Neighborhood in Princeton, NJ

Old Hights Brewing Company

Hamilton Township

Click here for more pictures on our Facebook!

This year has been unprecedented. The Coronavirus has shaped the world in ways we never imagined – until we suddenly needed to adapt. At first, the incident rates of domestic violence seemed, by all reports, to decrease. What we soon came to realize was a much more grim reality – individuals were trapped in their homes with abusers and unable to seek help. At Womanspace, we understood that new measures needed to be enacted to serve our clients. We opened our Deaf and Hard of Hearing text line to anyone who needed it. We added a chat feature to our website. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have continued to staff all three of our hotlines as well as our emergency housing and transitional housing. Our counselors adapted to serve their clients in new ways. Our administrative staff has continued to manage Womanspace’s needs from home. We are all working to flatten the curve and serve any and all who need us.

The events of this year have been tough, and we are now asking for your support. Please consider giving to Womanspace this year so that we may continue to help those who need it. This public health crisis isn’t over, but we can get through it, together.

Charitable contributions are an excellent method to reduce your tax bill in addition to supporting your favorite charities of choice and helping to support your community. There are a couple of small changes to charitable giving rules that might affect you, but if you keep in mind the various rules and limits, charitable giving can continue to play a key role in your tax planning. Click here for more information on tax laws.

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Help light up the community with Womanspace for our 19th Annual Communities of Light™ 

December 7, 2020

Link up – Illuminate- Light

In the early December winter, Communities of Light™ (COL) candles line the streets of central New Jersey – a powerful symbol of hope for men, women and children impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking in our community. Communities of Light raises awareness of the services available to help those victims in Mercer County. The candles come from luminary kits which help spread our important message that Peace Begins at Home.

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Buy your Luminary & Virtual Luminary kits, Sponsorship, or make a donation to COL today!

Click here to download a Sponsorship Form

Interested in being a COL Neighborhood Coordinator? Click here.

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Visit one of the following retail locations to purchase a luminary kit and support Womanspace!
Luminary kits are officially in! Please check with individual retailers as to their availability. 

Terhune Orchards (330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton, NJ 08540)
Pennington Quality Market (25 Route 31 South, Suite X, Pennington, NJ 08534)
ERA Central Realty (20 Main Street, Robbinsville, NJ 08691)
Keller Williams (2355 Route 33, Robbinsville, NJ 08691)
McCaffrey’s Princeton (301 N. Harrison St., Princeton, NJ 08540)
McCaffrey’s West Windsor (335 Princeton-Hightstown Road, West Windsor, NJ 08550)
Dandelion Wishes (45 West Broad St., Hopewell NJ 08525)
Old Hightstown Brewing Company (123 West Ward Street Hightstown NJ 08520)

Kits are also sold at the Womanspace Administrative Office (1530 Brunswick Ave., Lawrenceville, NJ 08648)
*** Due to COVID-19, please call to schedule pickups. 609-394-0136

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We’re excited to announce that Paula Sollami Covello, Esq., County Clerk of Mercer County, will serve as our 19^th Annual Communities of Light™ Peace Begins At Home Honorary Chair. Paula has served as the Co-chair of Communities of Light and as coordinator of municipalities for many years.

The Communities of Light campaign occurs every October in recognition of National Domestic Violence Awareness month. In light of COVID-19, this year’s campaign will be modified for the health and safety of the community. We encourage businesses, neighborhoods, and community organizations to purchase luminary kits, raise awareness of Womanspace’s services, and spread the message that “Peace Begins at Home.”

The campaign concludes with a countywide luminary lighting on December 7, which serves as a powerful symbol of hope for those impacted by domestic and sexual violence in Mercer County.

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Dear Womanspace Supporters,

We are living in an unprecedented, frightening moment in time right now. This virus is raising the stakes for domestic violence and sexual assault support services all across the country including ours. We scramble to adapt to a new normal full of restrictions and new directives that shift each day and vary from state to state. Currently, while our Administration and Counseling offices are closed, our Safe House, Transitional Housing and three Hotlines are fully operational and serving our clients. Our Counseling office is providing ongoing counseling via phone and looking into other platforms with which to work with clients confidentially. Clients report a critical need to continue their counseling and we anticipate the demand for service will only increase. Victims of violence are currently isolated in their homes where they are unable to escape the source of their fear during this quarantine. With this concern we make every effort to maintain a connection with clients during these restrictions and when the “Stay at Home” order is lifted we believe our doors will open to that increased demand for service.

With the arrival of the coronavirus, we made the difficult but only safe decision to postpone our biggest fundraising event, the Barbara Boggs Sigmund Award Dinner until October. This postponement creates the potential for a large deficit in this fiscal year. We have unfortunately also heard from some past grantees who are delaying any award process as their own fiscal position becomes unpredictable.

Even with the anticipation of huge deficits in our fiscal outlook, we must continue to serve the vulnerable clients who depend on us, now more than ever. Emergency Services is the largest of our programs and consists of our Safe House and 3 Hotlines all of which are available 24/7, 365 days a year. We have four families currently in our Safe House with six children under the age of ten. We need to be prepared to accommodate a full house at all times, which means another four families could request shelter at any time. The high quality of our program is made possible by committed professional staff who continue to be available for their shifts without hesitation even in this crisis time. They provide food, shelter, case management, counseling and support in a secure environment. Even during this national health crisis, Womanspace rises to every challenge keeping our families safe. The cost of running Emergency Services is $40,000 a month, $65 per person.

Our Transitional Housing Program, Barbara’s House, is also fully functioning around the clock through the crisis with six families working toward self=sufficiency after fleeing a violent home. As they work hard to accomplish goals they are now hit with COVID-19. Three of the moms have lost their job as a result of the coronavirus and with the lags in unemployment they are left struggling. We strive to provide for their ongoing needs, food, and other necessities. Two families were scheduled to move into their own place in the next month. For now, they will be given extensions as their income has been lost. The cost to operate Barbara’s House is $16,000 per month, a cost of $26 per person each day.

Our work is critical to the health and well-being of our clients. We are here 24-7 and that will continue. We hope you will consider supporting Womanspace in our efforts to keep families safe while they work toward a stability that will allow for a future free of violence.

Please stay home, stay safe and help flatten that curve.

Your friends at Womanspace

Dear All,

We are working in unprecedented times. As we watch and listen to the expert’s opinions and recommendations, we know that we all have an significant part to play in the health and wellness of our community.

Furthermore, Governor Phil Murphy has enacted Executive Order no. 107 – closing all non-essential retail businesses and cancelling gatherings of individuals, such as parties, celebrations, or other social events. Utilizing the policy of social distancing, we help keep ourselves and others safe. For more information on this order or other state guidelines, please visit the New Jersey COVID-19 Information Hub.

With this information in mind, we at Womanspace want to do what is best for everyone’s health and well being. We have chosen to postpone our 26th Annual BBS Award Event. The new date for the BBS Award Event will be Tuesday, October 27th at the Princeton Marriott. If you have already gotten tickets or done a sponsorship, there is no need to worry – they will automatically apply to the new date. Unfortunately, we are unable to give refunds. If you are unable to attend the new date you can use the price paid as a donation, share them with a friend, or donate them back to Womanspace for our clients to use.

As we finalize the details for the new date, we will reach out and share more information with you. We encourage you to follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages for updates.

At Womanspace, we are always here for you. Should you have administrative questions, please email us at info@womanspace.org. For emergencies, we are available 24/7 via our hotlines, local 609-394-9000; statewide 800-572-SAFE. For specific questions regarding our services, contact our hotlines. Your call will be answered by an experienced and trained Womanspace staff member.

We are utilizing all of our resources to operate successfully during this pandemic. You can help us by clicking the “donate.” We appreciate your support always.

Please follow the expert’s recommendations and advice and remain in your home, practicing social distancing. We hope that solutions will be found to counter this virus in the near future.

Warm regards and please stay safe!

The Womanspace Team

The Women’s Council of Realtors is having a Mardi Gras Fundraiser on Fat Tuesday!

Tuesday, Feb. 25th, 5PM-9PM.  View the flyer below to find out more information.