If you are a dedicated individual interested in making a difference in your community then Womanspace has the perfect opportunity. Join Womanspace as a volunteer for the Domestic Violence Victim Response Team (DVVRT) and Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS) Advocate Team. DVVRT and SASS team members provide vital support to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault during the most critical time.

Team members respond to local police stations or hospitals and meet with victims—providing them with support, information, and referrals. In the past twelve years the teams have served over 5,700 residents of Mercer County. Last year alone, team members provided services to 728 domestic violence victims and 72 sexual assault victims. Read more about the individual response teams…

Volunteers will receive 80+ hours of extensive, specialized training on topics including the law, sensitivity to the needs of victims and their children, and how to provide appropriate responses at a very critical time. Ongoing training will also be provided. Trained volunteers must be “on call” (available to respond to call-outs at police departments or hospitals) two to four shifts per month. Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older and have a valid driver’s license and access to a vehicle.

Additionally, volunteers must be able to communicate effectively, relate sensitively to victims and maintain confidentiality. The application process includes a background check, fingerprinting and interview.

Bi-lingual individuals, especially those fluent in Spanish, Polish and American Sign Language are strongly encouraged to apply!

The next class begins Spring 2018, download and complete this application to become a DVVRT or SASS team member (Adobe Reader required). Please submit your completed application before January 15, 2018. Applications must be notarized

For more information about volunteering on the teams, please contact Heidi Mueller at dvvrt@womanspace.org and Alison Daks at sass@womanspace.org, or call (609) 394-0136.

Allergan Foundation: $10,000 for General Operating Support: Womanspace is delighted to receive a generous Community Grant of 10,000 in general operating support from The Allergan Foundation. This new unrestricted gift from the global pharmaceutical giant is a welcome news as we look to partner with corporations in the region, and will be instrumental in meeting the wide-ranging needs of our organization.

Trenton ESG Program approved a grant for $20,000 for the Emergency Shelter operations: Providing shelter to women and families in crisis from domestic violence is core to our mission. Opened in 1978, our Safe House, which has remained in the same location since opening, has served more than 7,500 women and children in our community. Housing services provide an essential stabilizing factor for families who have experienced domestic violence. We are grateful to the Trenton ESG Program for its continued support of this vital operation.

The Bunbury Fund: $15,000 for General Operating Support: Our thanks to the Bunbury Fund for its renewed, unrestricted support for general operations. We are so grateful to this gem of an organization, for its long-standing commitment to our work in supporting the women and children of our community.

Mary Owen Borden Foundaton: $10,000 for General Operating Support: Many thanks again to the Mary Owen Borden Foundation for its renewed, unrestricted support for general operations. With their focus in Mercer and Monmouth counties, this organization has made it a priority to address the needs of disadvantaged youth and their families in the region. We value the committed vision and support it has for the women and children of our community, and are thankful for its continued support for the work we do at Womanspace.

Verizon Wireless Hopeline $20,000 for General Operating: We are grateful for the continued generous support of Verizon Hope Line® whose recent grant of $20,000 in general operating support will go a long way in helping us provide the array of programs and services that are essential to supporting local survivors in Mercer County. Thank you, Verizon, for your continued support!

Church and Dwight $10,000 for General Operating Support: Church & Dwight recently awarded Womanspace with a renewed grant of $10,000 for general operating support. Womanspace is grateful for our trusted local partners that understand the need for vital services that we provide to survivors and their children. Thank you, Church & Dwight!

Wawa $2,500 for Counseling and Support Services: The Wawa Foundation has graciously awarded Womanspace with a $2,500 grant in support of our Counseling and Support Services. The grant will support our efforts in assisting survivors and their children on their journey toward healing and self-sufficiency, and to building better lives in the future. Thank you, Wawa!

Sucharow Family Charitable Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Mercer $1,500 for General Operating Support: Many thanks to the Sucharow Family Charitable Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Mercer for the $1,500 in general operating support.

Support Womanspace by purchasing books at Barnes and Noble in Princeton on December 15th and they will donate a percentage back to us!

Save the Date

Thursday, December 15, 2016
Princeton Market Fair Mall

3535 US Route 1 South

All day

Womanspace is honored to have been chosen by BNO to receive Budsie toys. If you aren’t familiar with Budsies, they are custom made stuffed animals, or creations that you bring to life. Anyone can create a drawing, then send it to Budsie to have it made into a stuffed toy. The ones BNO made for us, were created by staff members, then given to us for our child clients.  Thank you for thinking of Womanspace, and donating these adorable Budsies to us!

Watch the video below!

Womanspace is honored to be BW NICE’s Charity Partner

Womanspace’s Executive Director, Pat Hart, will be a guest speaker along with our Director of Counseling, Susan Victor at the Mercer County BW NICE breakfast meeting on October 10th ,2016. The meeting will take place at the Salt Creek Grille in Princeton, NJ from 9:00- 10:30 AM.

To attend this meeting please register online with the link below. Tickets are $25 to attend. Register here!

Guests are asked to bring one of  the donations below:

Body Lotion

Washcloths

Leggings for women or girls

Volunteer Attorneys Needed to Help Staff Womanspace Legal Clinic

Womanspace is looking for family law attorneys who would like to volunteer to assist survivors of domestic and sexual violence in our monthly Legal Clinic. The long-standing clinic offers vital support to our clients.

The goal of the Legal Clinic is to provide an opportunity for a one-time consultation that can help clients to clarify their unique situation and to explore their legal options. So many clients come to us with pending legal issues and this has been a successful way to help them begin their journey with the best information possible.

• The Legal Clinic takes place at our Barbara and Herb Goodfriend Counseling Center at 1530 Brunswick Ave in Lawrenceville.
• Training on Womanspace and the work with survivors is provided to all attorneys who elect to volunteer.
• After the initial training attorneys are asked to sign up for a regular schedule, although the schedule varies based on the number of available attorneys.
• Client participation is voluntary and the consultation in no way obligates either client or attorney beyond the consult.
• All communications between the client and attorney are confidential under the laws and attorney ethical standards of New Jersey.
• Consultations are private and 35 minutes in duration. They are scheduled by appointment only, by Womanspace staff.

Click here to download a printer-friendly flyer.

If this volunteer opportunity sounds like something you would be interested in, please contact Susan Victor, Director of Counseling, at 609-394-2532, or via email at rsv@womanspace.org. Bilingual candidates (English & Spanish) are strongly encouraged to apply.

Thank you so much for taking the time to attend Womanspace’s Barbara Boggs Sigmund Award Event on Thursday, May 19th, at the Westin in Princeton. We hope you enjoyed the program and found the information to be informative. Our Honoree Tamron Hall, and former client Elizabeth Paddy, both delivered heartfelt and supportive speeches that brought the room to their feet. We appreciate their support for our mission and reconizing the adversity of domestic violence. Womanspace was fortunate enough to host an event with 370 people in attendance and raised over $140,000!!! Thank you for making a difference in our commmunity and helping those impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.

Stephen Sigmund, son of Barbara Boggs Sigmund with our Honoree, Tamron Hall and Executive Director, Pat Hart Womanspace staff and friends celebrating the event  Womanspace Event Committee Member, Landy Eaton joined by fellow Womanspace Supporters      Womanspace Director of Development, Lauren Nazarian joined by family and friends as well as Honoree Tamron Hall.

Womanspace Executive Director, Pat Hart accompanied by friends and family.

Friends of Womanspace

  Honoree, Tamron Hall giving her speech

 Janssen Pharmaceuticals Global Head of Neuroscience Dr. Husseini ManjiWomanspace Director of Development with Honoree Tamron Hall and Executive Director Pat Hart

Elizabeth Paddy, former Womanspace Client and Domestic Violence Survivor

Board President, Christopher Bukosky

Womanspace Child Counselor, Megan Tantum attending the event with her family

Board Member Kristin Keller and Anita Moore with their guests

Stephen Sigmund, Son of the Founder of Womanspace, Barbara Boggs Sigmund

BBS event committee with our Honoree, Tamron Hall

Bronze Sponsor NJM Insurance Group

Janssen Pharmaceutical, Presenting Sponsor

Doctors Express Urgent Care, Silver Sponsor

Bronze Sponsor, Wells Fargo

Womanspace Board Memebers

Bronze Sponsor, Church and Dwight

Bloomberg

Womanspace welcomed Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney and Senator Shirley Turner to the Administrative Offices to recognize Sexual Assault Awareness Month with the presentation of a proclamation to both Womanspace and New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Patricia Teffenhart, Executive Director NJCASA facilitated the meeting with Senator Sweeney’s Office. The meeting was attended by Womanspace Board Members, Advisory Council Members and Staff. ‬

Pictured are Robert Baran, Assistant Director,NJCASA, Senator Sweeney, Patricia Teffenhart, Chris Bukosky Womanspace Board President Senator Turner, Patricia Hart Executive Director of Womanspace and Alison Daks Sexual Assault Support Services Coordinator. — with New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

MAKE A SOCIAL STATEMENT WITH YOUR FASHION STATEMENT
WEAR JEANS WITH A PURPOSE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016

We are asking community members, elected officials, businesses, and students to make a social statement by wearing jeans because there is no excuse and never an invitation to rape.

Join the Denim Day movement by educating yourself and others on facts about sexual assault, and by wearing jeans at your job or school on April 27, 2016.

How can you get involved?

1. Wear denim on Wednesday, April 27, 2016
2. Tell your friends and family to wear denim
3. Download the Denim Day Action Kit

History of Denim Day:

In 1998 the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction because the victim was wearing tight jeans at the time of the assault. The justices stated that the victim must have helped her attacker remove her jeans, from which they inferred consent.

Enraged by the verdict, women in the Italian Parliament protested by wearing jeans on the steps of the Italian Parliament building. Wearing jeans on Denim Day became an international symbol of protest against destructive myths about sexual assault.

To learn more please download the 15 ways to stop rape today!

You can be featured in the next edition of Womanspace News! Take a picture of you and your friends, family or coworkers wearing denim and submit to gmv@womanspace.org.