Heaven’s Helping Hand Foundation’s Long Term Partnership
Many thanks to the Heaven’s Helping Hand Foundation for its $2,500 grant to the HomeSafe program. Heaven’s Helping Hand has provided support for Next Door’s work every year for over 10 years. We are deeply grateful for their continued aid, their significant long term support, and their generosity which helps keep families in Santa Clara safe from violence and abuse.
Unrestricted funds awarded by the Lockheed Martin Corporation Foundation
As a testament to the good will and outstanding work of longstanding community partnerships, Lockheed Martin awarded Next Door a $7,000 grant for general operating support. These unrestricted funds are vital to Next Door’s ability to continue its work of providing safety for battered women and their children. Thank you Lockheed Martin Corporation for your ongoing support!
Applied Materials Foundation Supports our HomeSafe Santa Clara
Improving the quality of life in their neighborhood yet again, Applied Materials gave $15,000 in support of Next Door’s HomeSafe permanent housing facility in Santa Clara. The program is the only one of its kind anywhere in Santa Clara County. Next Door’s two HomeSafe sites (one in Santa Clara and one in San Jose) provide 48 shared housing units for survivors and their children, serving 150 women with children each year. During residency, families receive supportive services such as counseling, case management and children’s services. Applied Materials has been one of Next Door’s major community partners for these past 10 years and for that we are very humbled and grateful for their continued support.
American Association of University Women awards Self Sufficiency Program
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has a distinguished history of advancing education and equality for women and girls in the United States and around the world. So Next Door was quite happy to learn it had been awarded a $7,000 grant from the American Association of University Women to provide services through its Self Sufficiency Program. Next Door Advocates help DV survivors understand their options, and through the Self Sufficiency program, help them prepare for the job market, find suitable educational opportunities, and to take those steps that help them become independent and safe. Although this is a new partnership, Next Door is encouraged by this gift from the AAUW and hopes it will continue to support women’s educational and professional development through the Self Sufficiency Program.
Next Door recieves a two-year general operating grant from the Sobrato Family Foundation
The Sobrato Family Foundation has provided Next Door with a generous two-year general operating grant of $100,000. In addition, the Sobrato Family will increase this gift with an additional $2,500 in 2013-14 when Next Door matches the first year grant funds. General operating grants are highly prized by nonprofit agencies, because such funds are unrestricted and provide the agency with the flexibility needed to effectively sustain its mission. For over eight years, the Sobrato Family has been a steadfast partner of Next Door’s in improving the lives of DV survivors in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.
100 Women Foundation empowers 400 women through the Self Sufficiency Program
After applying for grant funding for three consecutive years, it was finally announced this year that Next Door was one of six finalists to receive a grant at the 100 Women Annual Membership Dinner. At the dinner, Next Door’s Executive Director, Kathleen Krenek, spoke to over 300 women about the Self Sufficiency Program. Afterwards, she received a check for $42,500 in program support. Each year the Self Sufficiency Program empowers more than 400 women to become resilient, find jobs, new homes, and needed guidance and training as they work towards independence. 100 Women illustrates how a dedicated group of women can join together to make a serious difference in the lives of those in need.
Next Door Partners with the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEXT DOOR SOLUTIONS TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PARTNERS WITH THE LOS GATOS/MONTE SERENO POLICE DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE JOINT SERVICES TO RESIDENTS OF LOS
SAN JOSE, January 16, 2012 – Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence has been awarded $125,000 by the California Emergency Management Agency to work with the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department to provide joint services to victims of domestic violence in Los Gatos and Monte Sereno. Next Door was one of four domestic violence agencies statewide chosen to lead this innovative partnership between a domestic violence agency and a police department.
The joint project plans to train 48 law enforcement and 911 dispatchers to implement safe protocols for victims that also increase accountability of batterers. The joint partnership includes home visits by a fully trained domestic violence advocate for every time police officers are called to a domestic violence incident in their jurisdiction so that victims have immediate options that are safe for her and her children. The partnership expects to reach more than 70 individuals impacted by domestic violence per year, having already started the partnership in December of 2011.
“We are grateful to the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department for working on the cutting edge of domestic violence services with us,” said Kathleen Krenek, Next Door’s Executive Director. “This collaboration ultimately helps survivors of domestic violence obtain the customized services they need in order to make safe decisions for themselves and adds to the continuum of services that we provide in Los Gatos, including Next Door’s Los Gatos Support Group.”
“The Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department is thrilled to partner with Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence on this very important initiative,” said Captain Alana Forrest. “We have a long standing and excellent relationship with Next Door and are looking forward to enhancing our response to victims of domestic violence in our community.”
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About Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence
Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence began in 1971 out of the garage of a local San Jose women’s rights activist. Since then, Next Door has become the premier agency addressing the needs of victims of domestic violence and their children. Next Door seeks to end domestic violence in the moment and for all time by addressing all sides of the issue by helping victims to rebuild their lives, building resilience in children who are exposed to DV, and advocating for responsible policy change. To achieve its goals, Next Door provides innovative prevention and intervention services to diverse ethnic and low-income families in Santa Clara County (SCC), California, the majority of which come from San Jose. To learn more about Next Door’s programs, please visit www.nextdoor.org or call its Community Office at (408) 501-7550.
About The Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department
The Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department is comprised of 64 sworn and civilian personnel and over 150 community volunteers, committed to providing the highest quality service with a small town feel to its residents, businesses and visitors. It works in three major areas to improve the department and its ability to serve the community by 1) building highly competent and professional police department providing traditional law enforcement services; 2) Building community relationships; and 3) Engaging in community problem solving. To learn more about the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department, visit us at 110 East Main Street, Los Gatos, CA 95030 or go online to http://www.losgatosca.gov/index.aspx?NID=127. You can also call us at 408-354-8600.
Click here for a copy of this press release.
For more information contact: For more information contact:
Next Door Solutions Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department
Lisa Breen Strickland, Interim Development Dir. Sgt. Michael D’Antonio, Investigation Spvsr
(408) 655-3642 (408) 827-3209
No Holiday for Domestic Violence
This is one of an occasional post from Margaret Epperheimer, a seven-year member of Next Door’s Board of Directors.
The holiday lights and menorah are stored. The pine needles are vacuumed away, and the kids are back in school. Most of us had time to pause, take a break and enjoy. Not so, for those living with domestic violence.
In fact, this holiday season was particularly violent, starting with a tragic murder-suicide the weekend after Thanksgiving. That’s when Chris Shimek, a San Jose Police Department sergeant, strangled his wife Lynn and shot himself, leaving behind two teenage sons. Lynn had asked for a divorce just weeks before.
Prophetically, Rolanda Pierre Dixon, a retired Santa Clara County prosecutor and head of the county’s Domestic Violence Council, wrote an opinion piece for the San Jose Mercury News that appeared December 22. She reminded us “domestic violence doesn’t celebrate the holidays.” In fact, many victims say the holidays increase the violence, according to Dixon, who wrote: “It doesn’t care if you are homeless or rich, gay or straight, male or female.” (http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_19603130?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com)
Sure enough, a little more than a week later, on December 30, San Jose registered its 41st and final homicide of 2011. A horrific domestic violence killing took the life of Yvonne Kirk, the 65-year-old mother of Minema Kirk whose same-sex marriage to Sagal Mohamod Sadiq had gone sour.
Sadiq, a Somali native and long-time nurse, is charged with using a machete to kill her mother-in-law in a bloody rampage. Minema Kirk was said to be in Puerto Rico at the time of the slaying and had messaged her partner she was “done.” Of the 11 domestic violence-related killings in Santa Clara County in 2011, Sadiq is the only woman suspected of being the attacker. Her case goes to court January 19.
The common factor in both the Shimek and Kirk tragedies was a declaration the relationship was over. Domestic violence experts tell us the need for power and control is the primary motivator for violence directed against an intimate partner or their family members. And they say leaving is the time of highest risk for serious injury or death.
Reminder #1: Domestic violence doesn’t take a holiday. Domestic violence is an every-day, round-the-clock occurrence that may actually increase during the holidays – a time focused on families, relationships, joy and celebration.
Reminder #2: Leaving a troubled relationship characterized by abusive power and control can be a particularly risky (even lethal) proposition. In fact, Patty Bennett, Director of Program Services at Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, advises victims never to tell their partner they are leaving, or even thinking of leaving. If you or someone you know needs to escape an abusive relationship, call Next Door’s 24-hour hotline (408-279-2962) first. Domestic violence advocates answer the phones. They are experts in safety and escape planning. This is serious business. A life could depend on it.
Verizon Supports Next Door’s Effort to Stop Teen Dating Violence Before it Starts
December 23, 2011
SAN JOSE, CA—
Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon, has granted Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence $40,000 for its Teen POWER Program, which will help eight San Jose youth leaders to implement teen dating violence outreach, prevention and education campaigns for their high school and middle school aged peers in San Jose. The POWER Program (Proud of Wanting Equal Relationships) seeks to change the perception of Teen Dating Violence from acceptable and inevitable to unacceptable, preventable and avoidable.
“Through this collaboration, Next Door and Verizon hope to stop the violence before it starts by raising awareness about the signs of teen dating violence, said Kathleen Krenek, Executive Director of Next Door. “By providing messages through social media and presentations to sports teams we hope to educate students that violence in a relationship is never acceptable under any circumstances.”
Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence has been offering culturally and linguistically specific domestic violence and teen dating violence services to San Jose and the greater Santa Clara County region for forty years through its emergency and transitional housing, support groups, crisis counseling, legal advocacy, and children and youth services. Next Door seeks to end domestic violence in the moment and for all time. Learn more at www.nextdoor.org.
The Verizon Foundation uses its technology, financial resources and partnerships to address critical social issues, with a focus on education and domestic violence prevention. In 2010, the foundation awarded nearly $67 million to nonprofit agencies in the U.S. and abroad. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation’s largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered nearly 6 million hours of community service since 2000. For more information on the Verizon Foundation, visit www.verizonfoundation.org.
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FOR INFORMATION: http://www.nextdoor.org
Contact: jmarcus@nextdoor.org
Next Door receives $10,000 from the Leo M. Shortino Family Foundation
Next Door has again been honored by the Leo M. Shortino Family Foundation, which has granted Next Door $10,000 to support its Teen Services. The Shortino Foundation acts as a catalyst to enhance the quality of life in Santa Clara County, California through charitable giving to support at-risk youth and their families through education, healthy lifestyles and the arts. Their grant of $10,000 will fund Next Door’s efforts to stop teen dating violence before it starts through our innovative Youth Leadership Forum, which will implement social media and sports outreach, prevention and education campaigns to local middle and high school students. The grant will also fund Next Door work at the Foothill High School, where Next Door’s Teen Coordinator facilitates support groups for youth impacted by domestic violence.
