Southwest Crisis Center
Nobles, Rock, Pipestone, Cottonwood, & Jackson Counties
From the Director
Dear Friends and Supporters,
I am now into my eighth month with SWCC and continue to find every day full of
new joys, sorrows, and challenges. I have had the opportunity to learn more about the
Crisis Center staff, their special talents and who I can turn to, when those special talents
are needed for projects or activities that come our way. We began the new fiscal
year in July and continue to receive the majority of our financial support from the
Minnesota Office of Justice. I am currently in the process of researching new grant
options so that SWCC can develop a wider range of support and a larger “pot” to
draw. We certainly appreciate that we are eligible for those funds but do hope to find
more local dollars to continue to fight our cause. I want to thank each of you who
made the effort to give to SWCC this past year - whether it was a gift of money, materials,
or your time and talents. Whatever it may have been it is appreciated more then
you can imagine by the staff and the victims it helped.
I did some searching for new office site options for the Worthington office to try and
bring down the costs associated with our current sight, but was not successful in finding
one that would met our needs at a lower cost. In the end our current landlord
agreed to lower our rent for the next twelve months with new negotiations at the end
of that time period. Thank you Johnson Builders & Realtors for making that donation
the Center. We are also looking at doing some centralizing of computer & printer operations
in the Worthington office to make it more cost effective to print and develop
our own promotional and other printed materials. We have begun to offer legal assistance
at the Worthington site to immigrants/refugees via a shared grant with Southern
Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Inc. (SMRLS). We have found that this allows a
better comfort level for our clients to meet within the confines of a SWCC office setting.
I would like to put out a call for volunteers, especially in the Worthington office. Due
to work schedules and other family obligations Worthington now has a very short list
of volunteers. New volunteers do need to go through 40hrs of training, but following
that training a volunteer can choose the type of work they would like to do for us. We
can use assistance with office work, cleaning, transporting of clients, taking on-call or
the crisis line calls, covering the office during staff absences or meetings. There is also
need for supportive work with victims and at this time anyone with Spanish speaking
skills would be of great benefit to the volunteer program.
I wish you all a great fall and holiday adventure, good health, and positive rewards for
your good works. Please stop in any of our offices and ask how things are going, ask
what we are up to, or just come in to say hello.
Sincerely,
Jan Johnson Ojinnaka, Director
OCTOBER IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH
As part of the awareness program, we are planning some activities for October. We will be
meeting with professionals,
doing radio ads, replenishing brochures in the communities, meeting with school classes that are
open for us to come, as well as putting a display up of shield with stories of victims that had
been killed last
year in domestic violence related homicides.
Since part of ending Domestic Violence is for our society to say “no” to violence, we encourage
everyone to
help us raise awareness about the issue. This can be done by obtaining knowledge about
domestic violence,
volunteering at a crisis center, helping a victim or getting involved in a safe way if you witness a
domestic violence
incident.
Many people become aware of the dynamics of domestic violence too late. Infatuation or love
may lead people
to “forgive” or “turn the other cheek” when their partner abuses them. After a while, the victim,
hopefully,
realizes that what is happening to them is not based on love, but on controlling them.
Children raised in homes where there is domestic violence present learn about abuse on a daily
basis and
unless provided contrary information become young adults with those same controlling
behaviors. It is important
to confront those behaviors when displayed and hold that person responsible for their actions.
Unfortunately,
however, the negative behavior is often reinforced by their parents when they don’t hold the
offender
accountable and ”clean up” any legal or family problems created by that abuse.
Part of our mission is to reach those who were raised in violent homes to help them see that
there is other options
aside from violence in addressing issues that arise in life. Another part of our mission is to reach
those
who have no idea what domestic violence is and enlighten them on the issue in an effort to
prevent them form
becoming victims or perpetrators. Still another part of our mission is to reach out to those who
are being victimized
currently and aid them in the prevention of future abuse or themselves or their children.
If you would like more information on domestic violence please call our toll free number: 1-800-
376-4311 and
we will be glad to help you!!
F.Y.I
Throughout October we will be holding a Purple Ribbon Campaign to
help promote Domestic Violence Awareness. We have brought purple
ribbons around to various businesses throughout all 5 counties that can
be purchased for one dollar and it will then be displayed at the business
where it was purchased. We will also be displaying some in our offices
for ribbons purchased through us personally. The proceeds from this
campaign will help us cover costs to promote DV month and serve the
victims of violence throughout all our counties.
HOPE - the internal expectation of a different outcome
Please join the Southwest Crisis Center of Cottonwood and Jackson County as we
honor three local heroes. Cottonwood County is
honoring Nick Anderson Cottonwood County Assistant Attorney,
and Jackson County is honoring Sheriff Roger Hawkinson, and
Investigator Kelly Mitchell.
There will be a dinner, presentations, guest speaker, and a silent auction
Date- Thursday October 9th, 2008
Time- 6:00pm with Dinner at 6:30pm
Presentations, Speaker, and Awards will follow dinner.
Where- Horse Barn and Hunt Club, Lakefield MN
Tickets available at Bank Midwest Windom & Jackson, United Prairie bank-Jackson, Jackson
County Historical Society-
Lakefield, Commercial Bank of MN.-Heron Lake, 1st State Bank-Okabena or by calling Angie or
Rachel at 507-831-
2244 or Vera at 507-847-4202,
Tickets are $15
Ticket & Silent Auction Proceeds Benefit the Southwest Crisis Center
The 2007 Femicide Report Statistics are as follows:
Women:
22 women were murdered: 8 died due to gunshot wounds, 6 killed from being stabbed , 2 from
strangulation, 1 from being beaten to
death, 1 from arson, 2 in vehicle accidents caused by the perpetrator, and 2 from unknown
causes.
Children:
10 children were murdered: 1 from stabbing wounds, 5 were beaten to death, 1 from a vehicle
accident caused by the perpetrator, 1
from poisoning, 1 from drowning, and 1 from unknown causes. Out of these children, their
deaths were caused by: 5 from their father,
2 from mother, 1 from mom’s current or former boyfriend or husband, 1 from a childcare
provider, and 1 from unknown.
At least 3 friends or family members were murdered in domestic violence-related situations.
At least 24 children were left motherless due to their mothers domestic violence murders.
* Statistics were provided by MCBW 2007 Femicide Report
Remember My Name
OCTOBER IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH
Sai Xiong
Jeanne Wojciechowski
Mosetta Peters
Roselynn Habu
Sheila Chrast
Jacklyn Norman
Sandra Davis
Savannah Stevens
Judy Carrico Reeve
Kira Simonian
Rahin Mohamed
Helen Tomassoni
LaToya Burks
Alison Daniels
Judy Lynn Rush
Susan Wolter
Elizabeth Marxen
Doris Warren
Sheri Lynn Schaumburger
Eleanor Sprague
Kristine Larson
Nevaeh Jones
Jacqueline Wells
Zachary Wolfe-Wagner
Unborn Baby
Unborn Boy
Baby Girl
Baby Girl
Delijahjuan Winden
Destiny Jackson
Ja’Naurri Allen
Roger Wojciechowski
Cecilia Bodem
Andrais Burks
Darrell Buesgens
News from the Nobles County office
Since the last newsletter it has been busy! We went through the summer and wow did
that fly by; it doesn’t seem like fall should be here already. Anyway, in July we had a
booth out at the fair and hopefully we were able to help make more people in our community
aware of what we do and that we are here to help. We all enjoyed visiting with
those who stopped and we are looking forward to being there next year.
We would also like to send a HUGE thank you to all that have given us donations. It is
appreciated so much
that words cannot say. Our victim/survivors also appreciate it; without your support we would not
be able to
help them as much as needed. In the last year we have helped serve 171 women, 11 men, and
270 children in
domestic violence situations in Nobles County alone and a total of 1009 victim/survivors
throughout our five
agencies. Throughout our counties we also served 47 women and 2 male sexual assault victims
with age
ranges from 0-64.
With my first year as an advocate has past, I have learned many new things and I have enjoyed
being a part of
the Southwest Crisis Center staff. I have given presentations to 3 different groups for the
Parents Forever
meetings and I have thoroughly enjoyed doing them! I have been to many trainings and worked
with numerous
victims; all of it has been rewarding. I am glad that I have able to help these people in their time
of need
and help them get into a safe environment. I look forward to working with victim/survivors for
many years to
come and to working with the community to try and end domestic violence and sexual assault!
Thank you again for all your support!!
Laura Shefte ~ Advocate
Want to help us with a Fundraiser?
Join in for the Community Day Event! We are selling $5 coupon books for
Younkers, Herberger’s, Elder-Beerman, Carson Pirie Scott, Bon-Ton, and
Bergner’s! In return you automatically receive $10 off of any purchase of any
amount and 8 ~ 20% off coupons; there are also a few bonus buys! These may be
used at any location. All proceeds will help us serve victim/survivors.
You can contact any one of our offices to purchase one: Nobles~376-4311,
Rock~283-9917, Pipestone~ 825-5568, Cottonwood~ 831-2244, or
Jackson~ 847-4202.
SWCC News
Blandin Community Leadership Project
As a part of the Blandin Leadership Project I was able to attend my second workshop in Willmar,
MN on June
10 and 11, 2008. Our goals are to develop and sustain a healthy community, part of that
process is called the
community action process, it’s a step by step process for building on the existing strength’s of
our community
and unleashing your full potential as a community. This process engages the three core
competencies throughout
the process, Framing, Mobilization and Social Capital.
We trained on the effectiveness of small groups to work on projects in the community, the key to
success for
any community group is to have a clear purpose, observable indicators of success of the
product and process
necessary to achieve the purpose, shared meaning about the purpose and indicators of the
success, the commitment
of the group, they believe it’s work is important and expends the necessary energy to achieve it’
s goal.
Norms of the group include the explicit and implicit rules about how a group functions, clear rules
for decision
-making, disagreement is about ideas, not people, conflict is acknowledged and managed,
listening for understanding,
no one dominates the meetings, failure leads to learning not blame, and every member is
respected.
September 16, 2008 I attended my final workshop we did a overview of the core competencies of
the community
leadership and our community leadership skills. We worked on public communication and public
speaking.
Commencement took place that evening with awards and speeches, I would like to thank our
board and
director for giving me the opportunity to attend these workshops, and I want to thank my co-
workers for helping
me cover my county while I was gone. It was an awesome opportunity with insightful information
that is
invaluable and I am honored to have been chosen to go through the Blandin program.
Marge DeRuyter
SWCC Pipestone County
The Southwest Crisis Center would like to announce
SWCC Annual Board Meeting
November 10, 2008
6:00 p.m. meal & 7:00 p.m. meeting
Farmer’s Room in the Nobles County Government Center
Worthington, MN
Please RSVP to Jan by November 5, 2008
jojinnaka@frontiernet.net
Hello from the Rock County Office:
Since the last newsletter was released, SWCC staff, including myself, attended a Safe At Home
Training. Safe
At Home program is a confidential address program administered by the Minnesota Attorney
General’s Office.
Participants enroll in the program to obtain a confidential address. Contact any SWCC office to
learn more
about that program.
Numerous donations have been made to Luverne office the last few months such as quilts from
St. Catherine’s
Church, monetary gifts and assorted household supplies. Earlier in the summer, St. Johns
Lutheran Church
held a shower for the office where we received many items for the office as well as the survivors
we work
with. We appreciate and welcome those donations. We have begun working with a group called
Bundles of
Love through the Lutheran Church which has supplied us with "bundles of bundles". Each
bundle contains almost
everything (except a babysitter) that a new parent needs in caring for an infant. The bundles are
a wonderful
asset that we are able to provide the survivors we work with that are new parents and are in
need of
those baby care items.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and I look forward to doing presentations with
various
groups and classes to heighten awareness of the issue. I welcome invitations to do those
engagements, so feel
free to contact the office to set one up. Also, during October, I plan to touch base with the
service providers in
the community to assess victims needs and how we can collaborate most effectively in meeting
those needs.
The volunteer recruitment campaign paid off for us this year as we gained two new volunteers.
We welcome
them and appreciate all the assistance our volunteers give us all year long. The Rock County
volunteer staff
logged 5,277 hours last year either staffing the office in my absence or staffing the on-call
phone.
I also have been monitoring the news on the candidates for the various offices with particular
concern over
their views about domestic violence and sexual assault. More candidates this year are at least
talking about the
issues. Domestic and sexual violence needs to be addressed on all levels and treated as an
important social issue
that we must all work to eradicate.
Raevette
Staff Anniversaries
Congratulations on your 1st year of employment with us!!!
Maria Muniz ~ 7/24/2007
Rachel Aamot ~ 8//15/2007
Vera Armendariz ~ 9/17/2007
Laura Shefte ~ 9/21/2007
The mission of the SWCC is to provide
help, hope, and safety to victims of
Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
through supportive services.
We’re on the web
www.swcc.com
Wish List:
*Phone Cards * Stamps * Fast Food Restaurant Certificates* Hotel Certificates
* Diapers * Grocery Certificates * Baby Care Items * Infant Clothing * Shoes * Snack items for
children * Laundry Detergent * Toilet Paper * Kleenex * Paper Towels * Gas Vouchers * Bath
Towels * General Office Supplies* Cash Donations
Without support from our communities
we would not be able to provide the kind
of assistance that we do with victims.
Thank you for all donations whether it
was monetary or otherwise.. We greatly
appreciate it!