Category: News

Thank you to everyone who participated in Giving Tuesday! With our generous matching gift donation (thanks to our Board) we raised over $15,000 to serve victims of domestic and sexual violence!

#GivingTuesday is a day of global giving, celebrated the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, which helps to kick off the charitable season. Click here to learn more. Even if you missed Giving Tuesday, there’s still time to give to our Annual Appeal!  Please click here to make a donation, or you can send a check to our office (1530 Brunswick Ave., Lawrenceville, NJ 08648). Thank you for helping us to prevent abuse, protect families, and change lives.

Help make the holiday season extra special for our clients! Please see our Thanksgiving wish list below or click here to download a copy. See our holiday wish list below or click here to download a copy. If you wish to make a monetary donation or to see our year-long list of needs, please click here. 

Please note that we cannot accept frozen food and that Thanksgiving donations must be dropped off by November 22.

 

 

 

How do we begin to say thank you to Cokie Roberts?  She has been our friend, supporter, and guardian angel for so many years.  She was our first Barbara Boggs Sigmund Award Honoree in 1995.  The award was created to honor her visionary sister, Barbara Boggs Sigmund, and was presented to her by her mother, the Honorable Congresswoman Lindy Boggs.  That night Cokie spoke of her commitment to keeping her sister’s legacy alive and strong.  She has never backed away from that promise.  To hear from her with some regularity, wanting to know how the events of the day were impacting our families was always special.  Her journalist side wanted to know the facts, and her caring, compassionate side wanted to know how she could help.  She showed up to our events when her schedule allowed and when it didn’t she would create videos for us to use in her absence, ensuring she was always a presence for us.  It was amazing to hear from her about something she read in our newsletter, praising the efforts of staff and the work of the agency, and expressing her pride in being a part of Womanspace.  No call to her went unanswered, no request was beyond the scope of what she could provide.

Cokie was a study in intelligence and grace.  She was, as is often said about her, a National Treasure and the world of journalism, news, and politics benefited from her enormous talent. She was a consummate professional, a superstar.   However, personal discussions with Cokie all came back to family, how she fiercely loved her family and always wanted to hear about your family.  Her expansive definition of family was all-inclusive, and how fortunate for us to have had her as a very special member of our family.  Womanspace will not quite be the same without her.  We will miss her like crazy and we are thinking of, praying for and sending the warmest of condolences to her family.  We thank them for sharing their fabulous Cokie with us for all these years.

– Womanspace Executive Director Pat Hart

Thank you to everyone who attended and supported Womanspace’s 25th Annual Barbara Boggs Sigmund Award Dinner, held on Thursday, May 23 at the Hyatt Regency Princeton. Womanspace was privileged to honor Tony Porter, founder and CEO of A CALL TO MEN, for his efforts to prevent violence against women while promoting a healthy, respectful manhood.

Mr. Porter accepted his award and spoke to the approximately 300 attendees about the role of men in preventing domestic and sexual violence. He applauded the many men in the audience who had already undertaken this mission through their work with Womanspace and other organizations. Mercer County Freeholder Sam Frisby also gave a moving account of his own personal experience with interpersonal violence.

This night would not have been possible without our sponsors, volunteers, and staff members. Thank you again for your generosity and support in our mission to end domestic and sexual violence in Mercer County.

Please be sure to check out our Summer 2019 Newsletter for more pictures! Coming soon to your mailbox.

Presenting Sponsor, Janssen Pharmaceuticals

Barbara Boggs Sigmund Committee Members

Womanspace Board Members

Sponsor, Doctors Express Urgent Care

Sponsor, Wells Fargo

Sponsor, Church & Dwight

Sponsor, NJM

Sponsor, Depuy Synthes

Sponsor, Mathematica

Sponsor, Capital Health

Honoree, Tony Porter

Vacation Raffle Table

Silent Auction Table

Presenter, Mercer County Freeholder Sam Frisby

Presenter and Board President, Dr. Danielle Coppola

Presenter, Dr. Husseini Manji

 

Womanspace Director of Counseling, Susan Victor, and Guests

Director of Emergency Services, Reyna Carothers, and Maritza Petroski

Volunteers Denise Dekranes and Holly Bushnell, with BBS Committee Member Beth Dempsey-Rule

Teska Frisby, Samuel Frisby, Jr., and Freeholder Sam Frisby

Executive Director, Pat Hart, and Members of the Deaf Advocacy Project (DAP)

Womanspace Staff Members

NJCEDV Executive Director, Pam Jacobs, and DAP Coordinator, Lisa Oshman

Attendees enjoying the dinner and program

Guests in the VIP area

Board Member Ruby Suresh and her daughter, Development Director Lauren Nazarian, and Board member Dede Nini

Joanna and Rik Dugan and Joanne and Donald Coppola

Womanspace Counselor Donna Zytko, Board Member Denise Taylor, Volunteer Coordinator Susan Adams, Board Member Dana Fraytak Troiano, and  Jennifer Mabin Leach

Development Director Lauren Nazarian, BBS Committee Member Rony Nazarian, and Guests

Guest Ruth Miller, and friends

Male guests standing in response to Tony Porter’s call to action

Development and PR Associate, Erica Torsiello, and Director of HR and Operations, Nathalie Nelson

In honor of her anniversary, Pat Hart shares her thoughts about Womanspace and what she has learned over 25 years. To celebrate this milestone, click here and make a donation in honor of Pat’s 25th Anniversary. 

Womanspace had always been an organization I admired, for its mission and for the link to Barbara Boggs Sigmund whose accomplishments, energy and presence really made an impact over the years. The idea of working with an organization that had a mission founded on the belief that women deserved to feel safe in their homes, and that bringing women’s equality into that discussion was an important part of finding solutions, was very appealing to me. 

In my first two years building the first government funded partnership between a domestic violence and Latino organization, I learned how much I don’t know and how much there always is to learn.  I also knew that Deaf survivors weren’t coming to us…so I learned from my Deaf partners how to fix the problem and went on to forge a very successful partnership to assist Deaf survivors.  I learned I love my job, my work and everyone I work with.  I learned that if you are committed to this work, that commitment doesn’t end when you walk out the door at night-it becomes a part of who you are. 

The mission of Womanspace is as important now as it was 41 years ago.  It has shifted and grown to include work beyond safety, such as longer-term counseling, prevention, community education and awareness building.  The work of Womanspace and victim services organizations everywhere has changed laws and created a paradigm shift in how people view domestic and sexual violence.  Our first annual fundraising attempt was so difficult, because people didn’t talk about domestic violence, and certainly men didn’t.  Now we invite men to join us in our fight against domestic and sexual violence and they are signing on.  It is a wonderful thing to experience. 

Womanspace had two archaic unused computers when I started…we now have a computer on every desk.  Maybe not significant in and of itself, but this demonstrates how the work of the agency has had to move forward to keep up with the rest of the world.  Technology can be a huge help and in this field technology can sometimes exacerbate and already volatile situation.  We’ve had so many other good changes…partnerships with law enforcement and with child protective services.  Partnerships with the courts, Latino organizations and homelessness organizations.  Invitations to speak and train other professionals.  The recognition that domestic violence is an critical health care issue with screening happening in doctor’s offices, hospitals, mental health agencies. 

In my 25 years I have learned that attitudes can change, that partnerships can happen between the least likely of organizations, that no one organization can do it all and we need each other to effect change…competition is not the answer, cooperation is the answer. And I’ve learned that the resilience of the human spirit is immeasurable. 

-Pat Hart

 

Domestic Violence Victim Response Teams

The Domestic Violence Victim Response Team (DVVRT) is a partnership of Womanspace, Inc., Mercer County, New Jersey law enforcement agencies and community members. DVVRT volunteers are trained to meet with victims of domestic violence at police stations to provide information and support at the time of a reported incident or upon request.

Sexual Assault Support Services Advocates

Sexual Assault Support Services Advocates are volunteer victim advocates who work to enhance the victim-centered approach that is now standard for providing services to sexual assault victims. They provide accompaniment to hospitals in response to crisis calls received by the hotline, from local hospitals, police or the prosecutor’s office. Advocates provide crisis intervention, counseling, emotional support, information and referrals to sexual assault victims and their significant others. They may also be asked to support a survivor through follow-up with medical care and law enforcement proceedings.

General Qualifications for Victim Support Volunteers

• Must be 18 years of age or older
• Relate sensitively to victims
• Communicate well with others and be a good listener
• Maintain confidentiality
• Valid driver’s license
• Access to transportation
• Application process includes background check and fingerprinting
• Complete initial 80+ hour training and ongoing training
• DVVRT volunteers and Sexual Assault Support Advocates must be “on call” at least two 12-hour shifts per month
• Bi-lingual individuals, especially those fluent in Spanish, Polish and American Sign Language are strongly encouraged to apply!

Volunteer as an Advocate or Team Member

To apply for the next training class in Fall 2019 . Please submit your completed application by August 16, 2019. Click here for application. The next class begins in Fall 2019. For more information call 609-394-0136 and speak with either Heidi Mueller or Alison Daks Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., or email Heidi at dvvrt@womanspace.org or Alison at sass@womanspace.org.

THE Fall 2019 TRAINING TIMES, DATES, AND LOCATIONS ARE TBD. PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR MORE INFO.

On December 3, 2018 the twelve municipalities of Mercer County joined Womanspace in lighting luminary candles in support of victims of domestic and sexual violence, as part of our 17th Annual Communities of Light Peace Begins at Home project. In addition to municipal lightings, businesses, organizations, and individuals purchased and lit luminaries in order to raise awareness and money for Womanspace’s vital services. Thank you to everyone who participated!

 

  

 

 

   

 

Your donation can provide double the financial resources to help victims of domestic and sexual violence. In honor of #GivingTuesday, a generous donor, Robin Gosnell, has offered to match all gifts made on November 27, up to $1,000. #Giving Tuesday is a day of global giving, celebrated the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, which helps to kick off the charitable season. Click here to learn more.

Your support will help Womanspace provide crucial services to victims of domestic and sexual violence. Please click here to make a donation, or you can send a check to our office (1530 Brunswick Ave., Lawrenceville, NJ 08648), dated November 27. Thank you for helping us to prevent abuse, protect families, and change lives.