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By Kristin Scrivens  Introducing Jess, a victim advocate on our criminal justice team! Jess works with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Jess earned her Bachelor’s degree from Indiana University at IUPUI in Spanish and recently completed her Master’s degree in Social Science and Development Studies at Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Her thesis for her Master’s program was studying violence against women in migrant communities and studying how non-government organizations provide services to women.
Jess loves being a victim advocate because she loves being able to provide emotional support to victims and helping them navigate the criminal justice court system. She’s passionate about being a steady voice during such a hard time in a victim’s life and being able to help them move forward. Jess’s favorite service that Beacon of Hope offers is emergency financial assistance, when we have the funds available. She loves that it’s a tangible and quick way to make such a huge difference in someone’s life. A fun fact about Jess is that she lived in Morocco for two and a half years serving in the Peace Corp. While she was there she worked in youth development and taught English and aerobics. We love your fun spirit and high energy, Jess! Thanks for all you do!
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By Sandra K. Ziebold October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
There is a knot of fear that goes along with having experienced being a victim of a frequent, consistent and systematic pattern of domestic violence abuse. Domestic violence is about power and control. Abuse occurs when there is consistent unwanted dominance and control exerted over another. You may be in an intimate partner relationship and thinking to yourself, "What happened, I felt so wonderful and now I feel this horrible ache that won't leave the pit of my stomach. How did I get here and why do I feel so trapped? What can I do better? If I can do things better then he/she will, be okay / be calm / be happy." If you have thoughts like that, then stop for a second and really think about your thought pattern. Can you remember the last time you didn't have that aching knot of fear in your stomach? If you are constantly fearful that your every single breath or action is going to trigger anger and violence in another person exerting control over you, then our advocates can help you. It is domestic violence awareness month and you need to know that you are valued, there is a safe way to get out of your situation and you deserve a life free from the grip of domestic violence. We are here to help. Our crisis line number is (317)731-6140 Victim Advocate - Beacon of Hope Crisis Center  A client had reached out to the police due to violation of privacy. The victim was afraid that given this new violation of privacy, that the abuser will continue to go above and beyond to make the victims life difficult. The detective contacted Beacon of Hope Crisis Center for assistance. I was able to connect with the victim where I discussed the Address Confidentiality Program. The victim was in the process of moving and did not want the abuser to know of a new address considering the latest incident.
Although the victim has an active PO in place, the victim felt that taking every possible necessary step for confidentiality was a must. I was able to assist the victim with completing the Address Confidentiality Program Application and submitted the form on the victim’s behalf. Within 24 hours, the application had been approved. By the following day, the victim had sent an email thanking me for assisting the victim with this application and keeping their new address confidential. By Kristin Scriven  Introducing Tiffany Wilson, Beacon of Hope’s Director of Victim Advocacy! Tiffany has been with Beacon of Hope for a year and a half and truly loves this organization. Her favorite part about working here is the atmosphere and the people; she loves working in such a supportive environment with coworkers who all have the same passion for helping and empowering women.
Tiffany has worked in victim advocacy for the past nine years and has a degree in Criminal Justice from Indiana University. As Director of Victim Advocacy, Tiffany leads the team of advocates and works directly with our CEO/Executive Director on grant writing. She is also responsible for overseeing our informational database of client information for follow ups and data collection. Her favorite service that Beacon of Hope offers is of course our criminal justice team! She loves being able to inform victims of their rights while working with them each step of the way. In such a scary and unsure time, having someone who can provide support and clarity is monumental and Tiffany loves that she can help in that way. This past Spring Tiffany was honored with winning the “Baker One Outstanding Victim Advocate” award! This award is given to an outstanding advocate that demonstrates a consistent excellent effort in the field of domestic violence and sexual assault. Tiffany is a hard worker and a valued member of our team. Thanks for all your hard work, Tiffany! You make us proud! By Kristin Scriven  Meet Merideth Bush, Beacon of Hope’s Crisis Call Team Leader! Merideth joins us fresh out of graduate school where she earned her Master’s degree in International Policy and her MBA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey Bay in California. For her undergraduate education, Merideth studied Spanish at Ashbury University in Kentucky.
As Crisis Call Team Leader Merideth is the first point of contact when a victim of domestic violence and or sexual assault calls. Merideth likes being able to support victims and validate their feelings while connecting them with all of the resources Beacon of Hope has to offer! Her favorite aspect of Beacon of Hope is how inclusive we are of all communities. Domestic violence and sexual assault do discriminate based on ethnicity, religion, language, education, or orientation and getting the chance to serve everyone is one of the things Merideth is most passionate about. A fun fact about Merideth is that she once roasted marshmallows over a volcano in Guatemala! She is also responsible for introducing our staff to Wednesday mid-morning yoga breaks, an office favorite! Thanks for your contagious enthusiasm and passion, Merideth! By Kristin Scriven  Meet Rosa Ponce, Beacon of Hope’s Senior Victim Advocate! Rosa graduated in May of 2017 from Ball State University with a dual degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology and a minor in Social Work.
As Senior Victim Advocate, Rosa oversees the criminal justice team and works directly to support the victims. When asked why she loves working at Beacon of Hope, Rosa said, “I love what we stand for and what we do; I’m passionate about working with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. I love that we get to help spread awareness about such important issues.” Rosa’s favorite service that Beacon of Hope offers is court accompaniment. She loves being a pillar of support for the victim in their time of need. Her support helps victims feel a sense of safety and security during a scary time. In her spare time, Rosa loves hiking and reading. Currently, her favorite book is Orphan Train by Christina Baker Cline. A fun fact is that Rosa is initially from California and moved to Indiana when she was six years old! When she’s not working, you can find Rosa at Klipsch Music Center attending country concerts. We love having you as part of the team, Rosa! Victim Advocate - Beacon of Hope Crisis Center “Thank you. Honestly, I didn’t think anyone would be willing to help me.”  I received a call from a client who comes from a marginalized victim population in which admitting to domestic violence victimization is extremely taboo. Though this client could barely muster the courage to describe their situation as “abuse,” as they told me their story it became clear that they were a victim of financial, verbal, emotional, and physical abuse. The client recognized the need to protect themselves and their family from their abuser, so we set up a time to meet for Protective Order filing assistance later that same day.
The process of filling out the paper work was an emotionally turbulent one for the victim. Not only was it difficult to admit to the abuse and to seek help for a problem their culture tells them they shouldn’t even acknowledge, but the fact is they still cared deeply for their abuser, and were grieving as though for the loss of a loved one. I supported them as best I could, giving them privacy to cry when they needed it, and validation and comfort when appropriate. It was a difficult process, but after two hours of re-living the abuse and filling out the paperwork that made their “victim” status so shockingly real to them, the victim took a deep breath, stood up, and for the first time, smiled. Before walking out the door they looked me in the eye, relief written across their face and commented, “Thank you. Honestly, I didn’t think anyone would be willing to help me.” By Sandra K. Ziebold   We had the pleasure of attending the Julian Center Judge’s Luncheon on Wednesday, April 12th. During the luncheon the Domestic Violence Network presented our Senior Victim Advocate, Tiffany Wilson, with the Baker One Outstanding Advocate award! Tiffany leads our Criminal Justice Advocacy Team serving victims of crime in partnership with our 5 police department partners.
This award is given out to an outstanding advocate that shows consistent exemplary effort in the field of domestic violence or sexual assault advocacy. The advocate has to have demonstrated advocacy efforts working with generally high-risk or unique domestic violence/sexual assault situations. This award recipient must consistently demonstrate the Baker One Project tenets of offender accountability, homicide prevention and victim safety. It is such an honor to gather with so many wonderful officers, departments, judge's, prosecutors, servant focused individuals and agencies that collaborate and serve domestic violence and sexual assault victims. Victims, survivors and conquerors as the special guest speaker, Officer Ethan Roark, likes to say and referenced in his speech. Officer Roark had wise and wonderful words to share with those in attendance. He is someone that we work with all the time as the partner agency providing advocacy for Southport Police Department and we know first hand his level of passion for making a positive difference in the lives of others. Great luncheon, wonderful hosts and I couldn't be more proud of Tiffany! She is very deserving of this award! By The Beacon of Hope Team Starting this Friday! February 24, 2017! 8:00 P.M.! This is an online fundraising competition set up as brackets just like basketball season’s March Madness, only with non-profits being able to access a wide range of online fundraising tools for each agency to use and personalize! In order to stay in the competition and move to the next round we need help from ALL of our supporters! Not sure how Brackets for Good works? Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jskPh8hBh_8 How can you help Beacon of Hope? First we need you to go to https://indianapolis.bfg.org and set up your donor profile as soon as possible; now, today if you have a couple minutes. Then ON THE 24TH text the “Free Throw Code” to the number BFG gives you and Lids will donate $3 automatically to us! Remember you need to text on Friday, February 24, 2017. Next we really need your financial support too! If all of our supporters can donate at the suggested level of $50 each we can raise enough “Points” (or Dollars $$) and move on to Round 2 of the Tournament! Regardless of the dollar amount you are able to contribute we appreciate your support at any level. Make sure you ask your friends and family to join our team and give to Beacon of Hope Crisis Center. Be sure to share on all of your social media accounts also. You can help us so much just by sharing and asking others to join in supporting us. Thank you in advance for your support and may many blessings come your way! Use the hashtags #BFG17, #BFGIndy, #teamBOH when posting about giving and why Beacon of Hope is your choice this year.  |
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This blog is about our domestic and sexual violence crisis center, Beacon of Hope. We hope you find it full of helpful information, motivation, creativity, serious facts and positivity. We hope that it will help you know what is happening in our center, in our community and with our events. We hope you follow our blog in support of our organization and our mission. Archives
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