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Empowering Our
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Volume II, Issue 2 |
April 2002 | |
[ April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
| Central Reformed Church Helps the Shelter | Having
Fun With Fundraising | The Home Team |
Midwest Wireless Collecting Phones for Funds | Memory Quilt in the Making |
Discipleship of Equals, Reverend Casey Cain | Internet
for Advocates |
Rape Poem | Gold Seal Awards Ceremony:
Honorees From our Community]
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Governor Vilsak has proclaimed April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This year’s state-wide theme is Unveiling the Silence, Ending Sexual Terrorism. The theme reflects the efforts of sexual assault programs like CIS, which assist survivors and their loved ones as they begin the healing process to recover from the crime committed against them. Sexual assault has long been held a secret in our families and communities. Unveiling the silence is one of the first steps in the healing process as it allows the survivor to seek the help she/he needs and deserves. CIS services are available to survivors, their significant others, friends, and family. Whether the assault occurred last night or 20 years ago, whether it was someone familiar or a stranger, whether it was in a home or in an unfamiliar place, staff and volunteers are available to offer support and resources 24-hours a day. This year we will commemorate Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) with several activities that we hope you will participate in. Volunteers have made teal ribbons, the selected color to represent SAAM, to be placed throughout Mahaska and Keokuk Counties for people to wear in showing their support of ending sexual assault. The ribbons will be available at the CIS office and many businesses and service agencies in our communities. CIS will have a clothesline project on display in the window of Stephen D. Tucker, CPA, 108 First Avenue East. The t-shirts for the project have been made by people involved with the activity at WPU and by women and children at the shelter. There will be candlelight vigils held in both Oskaloosa and Sigourney, in remembrance of sexual assault survivors. The vigils will be held on April 21, at 7:00 p.m. on the squares. Clothesline t-shirts will also be available for viewing during the vigils. Anyone interested in attending the vigil in Sigourney is welcome to ride along in the CIS van. CIS will also be participating in several activities at WPU. An information booth will be available on April 22 and there will be an open forum discussion on April 23, 7:00 p.m, at the Chief Mahaska Room. We would like to thank Crouse’s House of Flowers, Mahaska Drug, and WPU for their support in donating supplies needed to make this SAAM a success.
Central Reformed Church Helps the Shelter
Masonry work required in the basement of the shelter was completed last month. Our hope was to somehow begin organizing donations stored in the basement after the work was finished. Unbelievably, Mr. Terpstra of Central Reformed Church, stopped by our office to see if we needed any work done at the shelter and offered to build shelving for us. Church members decided on a shelving design and completed the project in less than a week. The project will enable CIS to efficiently receive and give donations of clothing and household items. Previously, there was no way to display the donations and they were stored in piles of boxes. It was difficult for women to sort through the boxes to find the items they needed. Now, we can sort donations by size and item, so that donations can be given to those in need more easily. If you have been asked to hold your donations, we are now ready for them! Please call 673-0336.
Having Fun With Fundraising
While
the turn out wasn’t quite what we had expected for the second annual
Vintage Charity Ball, those who came certainly had a lot of fun. Many
more people came dressed in vintage costumes ranging from Middle Ages
to 1920s flappers to ‘70s flower children. The food provided by The
Peppertree was fabulous, the conversation stimulating and the entertainment
by JR Sound Co. lively.
We
even had a few bidding wars on some of the items up for silent auction.
A big thanks goes out to all of the businesses that so generously donated
items for the auction and all of the volunteers who helped put the ball
in place. In all, we had a lot of fun while raising money for a worthwhile
cause.
The
fundraising committee is now working on our next project – a Charity
Golf Tournament to be held June 1, 2002, at the Elmhurst Country Club.
We plan to give away some big hole-in-one prizes this year as well as
trying to repeat the success of our silent auction at an awards dinner-dance
following the tournament. As most of the members of the fundraising committee
are golf novices (to say the least), we certainly would appreciate anyone
willing to serve as an ad hoc committee member to help plan this golf
tournament. To volunteer, please call 673-0336 or Debbie at 673-4173.
The Home Team
It is time for the Mahaska Homelessness Coalition to begin writing grants to increase services to the homeless in our area. The mission of the coalition is to collaboratively build community support, awareness, and resources to create lasting solutions for homeless and at-risk persons. We are asking concerned citizens to assist us during the next four months while we discuss and plan needed projects for the homeless in Mahaska County. If you are interested in assisting with this process, please contact the following officers of the coalition:
Dawn Stephens, Chair, 673-0336
Harris Van Wyk, Vice-Chair, 672-1042
John Doty, Treasurer, 673-4173
Barb Rudsell, Secretary, 673-6227
Thank you for your support!
Midwest Wireless Collecting Phones for Funds
That old wireless phone in the closet could be collecting more than dust. It could be collecting funds for CIS. All area residents are invited to participate in the fundraising effort by dropping off their old wireless phone and accessories at the Oskaloosa Midwest Wireless store located at 114 A Avenue East. For each phone collected, Midwest Wireless will donate funds to CIS. The phones will be sold to companies in bulk to be used for parts or to produce new wireless phones. It was with this thought in mind that Midwest Wireless established “Phones for Funds.” By setting up collection bins at all its retail locations, Midwest Wireless is able to pool all the phones gathered and sell them in bulk and raise funds for local charities like CIS. “The donation from Midwest Wireless will greatly assist in providing 24-hour advocacy at our shelter,” said Dawn Stephens, Ex. Director of CIS. Phones for funds not only raises money for worthwhile local charities, it also fulfills an environmental purpose, ensuring the phones are recycled rather than thrown away. The year-long collection will culminate next February 2003 with CIS receiving a check for the phones collected from the Oskaloosa Midwest Wireless store. Any wireless phone will be accepted, as well as any accessories. Shelly John, Public Relations, Midwest Wireless
Memory Quilt in the Making
Women in our shelter are there for one of three reasons: domestic abuse, sexual assault, and/or homelessness. For awhile now, the women and children have wanted to do something to tell a piece of their stories. They also wanted a way to say thank you to the staff and volunteers for the compassion, caring, and support given to them while at the shelter and after leaving. The women decided that it would be nice to make a quilt, but they were not sure how to go about doing it. A call was placed to The Cuddle Club, who is a generous supporter of CIS. They immediately thought it was a wonderful idea and offered to help. A representative, Shirley Hansen, came over two days later to help the women plan the project. They decided on the colors and design of the quilt. Each person who stays at the shelter will have the opportunity to sign a block. After several blocks are signed, The Cuddle Club will then sew the blocks together and finish the quilt. It will be designed in a way that blocks can be added each year. The quilt will be hung on a wall in the shelter and will be displayed in the community during CIS events. The Cuddle Club is always looking for members to help crochet, quilt, and knit. Call Shirley at 672-0996.
Discipleship of Equals, Reverend Casey Cain
The literature discussing domestic abuse mentions time and again the use of the Bible as a way to rationalize situations involving the abuse of women. I have encountered this phenomenon myself. As a clergyperson, this is puzzling to me. The scriptures involving Jesus make it a point to lift women up instead of beating them down. And the Savior I serve, spoke of treating everyone the same, equally, with respect and compassion. In the Gospels, we encounter a man who was steeped in the tradition and culture of his time. He was a Jewish man who knew the sacred texts of Judaism. He knew the laws that governed every day life as a Jew and he lived by them. But he did question some of them, including the laws that governed interaction between people, the purity laws. The God Jesus knew and who he came to tell us about was a God of compassion who was being limited by the purity laws. Jesus’ God was full of love and compassion and Jesus sought to embody this love and compassion. Jesus’ use of parables taught his hearers and teaches us too, things about God, especially Jesus’ belief “...that God’s gracious goodness establishes equality among all of us, righteous and sinner, rich and poor, men and women, Pharisees and Jesus’ disciples...The all-inclusive goodness of Israel’s God call forth human equality and solidarity” (Fiorenza, 1983). In short, we hear a man who challenged the status quo about everyone’s role and place. Jesus even went against the law in the way he related to women. We hear a man teaching the Torah to Mary. We see a man who allowed women not related to him to touch him. We read the story of Jesus speaking with a foreign woman at the well. We read that he learned from a Phoenician woman, a non-Jew. Often times, I hear the scriptures mentioned as limiting the role of women in all aspects of life, especially in the Church. These people say that scripture states that women should be silent in church, not teach, cannot be ministers; that scripture states that a man is the head of the household and a woman has to obey him. I would challenge that Jesus never said anything like this and would be appalled that any of his followers would believe it. The problem never begins with Jesus. It always begins with Paul’s writings and the writings attributed to him. Paul was a man of his culture and he found it hard to separate himself from the things that he had learned. Even with that, though, there are many places in Paul’s writings where we hear of women and men serving equally in the ministry. Jesus commanded us to live in a new way, with a new heart and a new viewpoint. “It was a discipleship of equals” (Borg, 1994).Internet for Advocates
The Lifetime television network has launched the first ever television network campaign to stop violence against women. Lifetime has teamed up with non-profit organizations and a bi-partisan coalition of Members of Congress to start “Our Lifetime Commitment: Stop Violence Against Women.” As well as offering extensive on-air programming addressing the issue of violence against women, the network is also offering awareness raising information on the internet. Check out Lifetimetv.com for links to websites where women can find out more information about getting involved in stopping domestic violence and sexual assault, advice from experts on how a woman can help herself or a loved one who has faced abuse or rape, videos of Lifetime’s PSAs and a card, called “Speak Out with Lifetime and V-Day,” that visitors can send to Members of Congress to make stopping violence against women a top priority.
Borrowed from Access in Ames
Rape Poem
There is no difference between being raped
And being pushed down a flight of cement steps
Except that the wounds also bleed inside.
There is no difference between being raped
And being run over by a truck
Except that afterward men asked if you enjoyed it.
There is no difference between being raped
And being bitten on the ankle by a rattlesnake
Except that people ask if your skirt was short
And why you were out alone anyhow.
There is no difference between being raped
And going head first through a windshield
Except that afterward you are afraid
Not of cars
But half the human race.
Marge Piercy,
Living in the Open
Gold Seal Awards Ceremony: Honorees From our Community
On Thursday, March 21, Marj Striegel, Service Supervisor of Mahaska County Department of Human Services, and Musco Lighting were honored by the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence at the annual Gold Seal Award Ceremony. Awards were presented to those who have demonstrated a dedication to ending domestic violence in the state of Iowa. Domestic violence programs throughout the state nominate recipients for the award each year. Marj Striegel has been active in serving victims of abuse for over 25 years. Musco has given CIS essential support since we opened. In addition, two staff members of CIS in Oskaloosa were recognized for five years of service in the Battered Women’s Movement. Crystal Sodak and Karen Lafrenz have worked for CIS since July 1997. Domestic violence is believed to be the most common and least reported crime in our nation. In the US, a woman is more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped or killed by a male partner than by any other type of assailant. In Iowa, three women seek assistance from domestic abuse programs every hour. Domestic violence programs would not be able to assist the victims they do without the countless hours given by Gold Seal recipients.
