The Advocate | April 2023
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. As a community, we want to invite you to unite with us in raising awareness to this critical issue that is hurting not only our community, but our world. Sexual assault is a pervasive problem that affects millions of people every year and it’s up to us to do our part to prevent it.
Thanks to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the city of Akron is already hard at work, after receiving over $5 million in Sexual Assault Kit Initiative(SAKI) funding, to aid in the investigation and prosecution of cold case sexual assaults. The work doesn’t just stop there, but can continue through individuals like yourself.
Mark your calendar for our lunch and learn at Brubaker’s Pub in Stow on Friday, April 28th from 11:00am-12:00pm! Together, we will celebrate National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW), which will be commemorated April 23-29,. Lunch is FREE, but registration is required. You can register by clicking here.
This year’s theme is Survivor Voices: Elevate. Engage. Effect Change. As such, we will be awarding Administrative Judge Katarina Cook of the Summit County Domestic Relations Court with this year’s Rev. Dr. Robert A. Denton Outstanding Victim Services Award, for her incredible partnership in bringing the Children Who Witness Violence Drop-In Center to life.
Together, through our partnership, we will stand up against sexual assault work towards a brighter and safer community for us all!
“I’m still shaking after the first conversation… When my ex-boyfriend got domestic violence charges, Chelsea reached out to me and introduced herself. I had just gotten my daughter taken from me. It was nice to know someone else was out there checking on me.”
Watch Savannah’s story to hear how VAP was able to help this young mother after escaping a domestic violence situation and losing her daughter…
Thank you for your support that allowed Chelsea, one of our Victim Advocates, to show compassion to Savannah and connect her to the resources she needed to heal from trauma and take the necessary steps needed to get her daughter back.
There are some great things happening at VAP through your support, including the recent promotion of Kaitlyn Pfouts, who is our new Assistant Director of Services. Her primary responsibility is to share our services throughout Summit County.
Within the last few weeks, Kaitlyn and her team participated in various events, where they reached out to those in need and shared important information with those who were interested in our services. These events included:
- 2023 Youth Health Fair presented by Hoop for Coop at Buchtel High School
- The Social Work and Behavioral Health Career Fair presented by the University of Akron
- The Justice and Bus Legal Services Fair, held in partnership with the Summit County Domestic Relations Court
If you or your organization is interested in receiving a presentation on our available services or in hosting a community outreach event, please reach out to Kaitlyn at [email protected].
Mother’s Day is right around the corner! What better way to show your love and appreciation than by entering our Mother’s Day raffle! Not only will you have the chance to win over $1,200 in products and services, but you will be supporting other mothers in need.
In 2022 VAP served thousands of mothers, grandmothers, and caretakers of over 3,000 minor children! We delivered tens of thousands of services including safety planning, crisis intervention, advocacy, victim rights education, and client-centered community referrals for resources to help fill the needs of these strong women and their families.
To celebrate their strength this Mother’s Day, we are raffling off a basket filled to the brim with goodies to spoil that special someone in your life! Some of the goodies include:
- A large Michael Kors Sullivan Leather Tote
- 3-60 minute massages for LaVida Massage
- $100 Ulta gift card
- $100 Invoke Studios gift card
- A Pandora sparkling tennis bracelet
- And so much more!
Purchase entry tickets and check out a full list of the basket goodies on our website!
The winner will be pulled live on our Facebook page on Wednesday, May 10.
Donating has never been so easy! You can support VAP while you shop at Walmart and here’s how:
- Every time you shop at Walmart, donate spare change by automatically rounding up your orders to the nearest dollar at checkout
- Donate products from a non-profit’s registry and have the items shipped straight to them.
Learn more HERE.
