Newsletter - Volume 2, Issue 4

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Volunteer Voice
April 1, 2010
STAFF Genevieve N. Waller, Esq. Executive Director Sherry Lewis, MA, LPC Director of Therapy and Outreach Katie Reid, MSW Community Education Program Director
April2010
April 2010
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu 1 SAAM Kickoff 4 5 6 7 Columbia 8 College Health Fair 14 Walk A Mile in Her Shoes 21 Denim Day 28 15 Fri 2 Sat 3
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Mary Dell Hayes Volunteer Services Coordinator Melanie Griffin, LMSW Sexual Assault Services Coordinator Meredith Peters, LMSW Advocate Counselor Jennifer Gantt, LMSW Group Services Coordinator Georgina Hance Office Manager
10 RAD Training
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13 Community Partner Appreciation
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19 Tee It Up 20 For STSM 26 27
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24 Kid’s Day Lexington
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30 Justice Jam
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Register online at www.stsm.org for Rape Aggression Defense Training taught by Richland County Sheriff’s Department. This fun, free class will last from 9:00am—1:00pm. We will honor our volunteers and other community partners at the Sims Stackhouse Mansion from 6:00pm—8:00pm. The Sims Stackhouse Mansion is located at 1511 Laurel Street. Join men and women from the Midlands as they walk a mile in women’s heels to raise awareness about sexual assault. The walk will start at MLK Park in Five Points at 6:00pm on Wednesday, April 14. Register online at www.stsm.org
IN THIS ISSUE
April Calendar News and Upcoming Events Ask An Advocate
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STSM’s annual golf tournament will take place at Golden Hills in Lexington on Monday, April 19. Register a team or sign on as a sponsor. Encourage your employer to participate in Denim Day. Call the office for more information or to schedule a time to pick up Denim Day stickers. Help teach families about preventing child sexual abuse at Lexington Kid’s Day on April 24th. We need volunteers from 8am-11am and 11am-2pm. SC Bar’s Young Lawyer’s Division Justice Jam charity concert for STSM at the Elbow Room.
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Spring Cleaning
It’s time for Spring Cleaning—out with old habits, in with new methods and tips! Here are some reminders for hospital and hotline calls and a few new ideas to make your experience at STSM more fun:
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A hotline call should last no longer than thirty minutes! If the call lasts longer, you’re probably cycling. NEVER leave the hospital before the survivor without calling the hotline to speak to a staff member. NEVER take more than one hospital call in twenty-four hours. Remember not to leave your belongings unattended in the hospital. We need your hours logs every month! Make sure your phone is turned on and charged before your shift begins. Let us know if one of the lockers looks low. Be careful on the way to the hospital! Take your time (up to 45 minutes). You are unavailable for hotline calls while on a hospital call. You can only pay attention to one survivor at a time! We are not allowed to provide services to survivors who are in prison or DJJ because we are funded by the Victims of Crime Act. Let us know if your email, phone number, or mailing address change. Or just if something cool happens! We want to stay in touch with you!
March Call Totals
Total Hospital Calls: 35 Hospital Calls answered by volunteers: 26 Hospital Calls answered by staff: 9 Total Hotline Calls: 16 Hotline Calls answered by volunteers: 11 Hotline Calls answered by staff: 5
We want your bright ideas! Have an idea for the Ask An Advocate column? Would you like to write one? Feel free to submit ideas for things to be covered in the newsletter anytime! Chances are if you’ve wondered about something or looked up a question, another volunteer has thought about the same thing. We rely on your feedback to know what we can do better. Please be on the lookout for our annual Summer survey. It will only take about five minutes to complete and provides tons of information for the agency.
Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for. -Joseph Addison
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Ask an Advocate
This month’s column was written by Nova Buchannan. Nova has volunteered with STSM since 1994. She retired from Bank of America and has 2 children, 6 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren. Nova is an excellent knitter and recently taught STSM staff how to knit. Nova volunteers with Speaker’s Bureau. If you ever see her at a community event, be sure to say hello!
I found STSM when the agency was known as Rape Crisis Network and the office was located on Greystone Boulevard. My two daughters were married and raising their own families. I had been working in customer services for some years and I presumed my problem solving skills were honed to a tee. After training and hospital and hotline calls, I found I was not as skilled as I thought. I found my listening skills were the ones most needed and for those who know me, not talking and listening to the survivor is a skill I really had to learn. I realized I could not solve any of their problems, only listen carefully and offer the services of our agency, hand holding, a shoulder to cry on and listen even more. There is one case that I dealt with that stands out. A hospital call came one night and when I arrived at the hospital the survivor was a female from a local detention center. She had been sexually assaulted there. After the exam and statements were taken, her mother was allowed to wait with us while waiting for transportation. Years later, I had a call to a hospital and found a teenage girl with her mother and grandmother in the E.R. conference room. While waiting for the protocol to begin the mother and grandmother both asked me if I remembered them and my mind was blank. The mother of the teenager was the female from the detention center. In further conversation the grandmother revealed she had been sexually assaulted when she was a teenager and never had any assistance. The mother of the teenager had not been able to avail herself of any of our services until after her sentence had been completed at the detention center. I made sure all of the ladies knew our services were available to all of them. My sister was diagnosed several years ago with ALS and I took time off to help her son and daughter-in-law with her care in hospitals, extended care facilities and finally in their home. I have returned to STSM to assist with Health Fairs and public events, and even knitting lessons. Upcoming Dates to Remember: Thursday, April 1: Sexual Assault Awareness Month Kickoff Saturday, April 10: Rape Aggression Defense Training Tuesday, April 13: Community Partner Appreciation Event Wednesday, April 14: Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Monday, April 19: Tee It Up for STSM Golf Tournament Wednesday, April 21: Denim Day Thursday, April 22: Speaker’s Bureau presentation to Limestone College on Sexual Assault Saturday, April 24: Lexington Kids Day Friday, April 30: Justice Jam May 1: Speaker’s Bureau Event for Youth Activists for the South Carolina Contraceptive Access Council Tuesday, May 4: CE Event Saturday, June 12—Thursday June 17: Summer Volunteer Advocate Training Saturday, August 21: Speaker’s Bureau Training