Community Outreach
Hi my name is Marcie and we are trying to do an appeal in raising money for our organization and I hope my story touches those people who are important to our community. It started with a very caring and loving person who is dedicated to her family and friends of the community….That’s where the dream began in serving Domestic Violence families in our rural community out here in Torrance County. Betty Summers lost her sister in a domestic violence situation that devastated her family back in North Dakota many years ago. This is where it actually began as we have dedicated Betty’s dream to honor her sister she lost. We are opening up a shelter to help families because in so many ways domestic violence affects people’s lives and destroys the happiness of their wellbeing where it leaves them lost, stuck, and feeling alone. Domestic violence has a psychological impact on the victim as she is going through the abuse. I too have been a victim and am now a survivor who’s been through this in my past life with both my marriages. When I met Betty Summers we instantly became good friends. As she talked about putting a domestic shelter up in Torrance County I was very excited about it. I wanted to be a part of her team so I stayed close to her intentions of how and what we needed to accomplish. A local resident, a close friend of the Summers family, donated 5 acres to help build this safe home to help those who suffer domestic violence I remember the time back in 2004 when she asked a few dedicated friend’s to go out and help pull the weeds, take down vineyards supports, and plow the landscape….and I’ll never forget the first day my family and others went to help build this dream come true for a Domestic Violence Shelter that serves our community. Over the past years volunteers have dedicated their time, efforts, and funds to help construct and furnish the Safe Home, which today can hold as many as 16 persons. This dream and goals has been a positive experience for some of us who can tell about so many accomplishments and some long difficult struggles along the way. Our volunteers within our community have been committed and work hard together as a team; we are dedicated advocates who want to make a difference by making it better for families who are going through their crisis. We want to reach out in helping families build a better way for their lives in the future. Enriching them with empowerment and the right resources, we can do it together to help fight the cause of domestic violence and help end the cycle of it.
As The East Mountain area is growing it has never had a Domestic Violence Shelter up in Estancia Valley. It is crucial for individuals and families to recover in a safe place while having the potential for counseling and job training programs to break the cycle of violence and dependency. Isolation, poverty, and dominant-male cultural traditions can compound the plight of battered women and their children who live in rural areas. Our success is greatly dependant on advocate volunteers that donate their time to our mission. As individuals who believe in our mission your donations are what help make these individuals and families recover in a safe place; all donations benefit the continued development and operation of our newly finished home. Your donations of services and goods help us in achieving these goals. I want to take this time on behalf of our organization to thank you for your consideration. Again I express how passionate and thankful that I am to be a part of this organization in helping others to fight the crisis of domestic violence in our community.
