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ckirchoff
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Posted: Fri May 22nd, 2009 01:44 am |
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A New Leaf’s Faith House needs your help
By Kathy Bollinger, Chair of Faith House Advisory Council
Women and children who would otherwise leave their abusive homes scared, alone and financially distraught, find hope, security and a fresh future within the walls of A New Leaf’s Faith House Domestic Violence Shelter. For 35 years, this domestic violence shelter has provided victims of domestic abuse and their children with safe, compassionate, family-oriented emergency shelter and transitional housing.
For nearly 10 years, Faith House has operated under the umbrella of A New Leaf (formerly PREHAB of Arizona), a non-profit 501c3, comprehensive, human service agency which has dedicated significant support and resources to our communities’ sheltered victims. A New Leaf remains committed to ensuring the safety of women and children here in the West Valley. In line with our name, we’re grateful that programs and services like Faith House help women and children to begin turning over a new leaf in their own lives.
U.S. Department of Justice reports indicate that slightly more than half of female victims of domestic partner violence live in households with children under age 12. Each year, thousands of American children witness domestic abuse within their families. Witnessing violence is a risk factor for long-term physical and mental health problems, including alcohol and substance abuse, being a victim of abuse, and perpetrating domestic violence. A New Leaf is committed to changing these risk factors, particularly for people like Leslie, a 21-year-old resident who’s determined to remove her 1-year-old son from the cycle of statistics she has known all too well.
Faith House has provided many fulfilling and life-changing services for women and their children. Now more than ever, there is a great need for a licensed childcare center, where parents can leave their kids while they’re working, attending classes or finding ways to rebuild their lives away from the shelter. Scheduled to open later this year, the Licensed Faith House Childcare Center will cost approximately $500,000. Last year alone, nearly 200 children were safely harbored at Faith House. More than 100 of them were between 6-weeks-old and school-age. Continued support for individual children as they enter the Center is budgeted at approximately $30 per child per day or $150 per week.
A cross-functional team of community leaders has formed with the specific purpose of seeing this Center develop. Support for people like Leslie and the nearly 300 other women and children who find safety in A New Leaf’s walls each year, could not occur without the generous volunteer, in-kind and financial contributions we receive. More than 23 percent of our annual budget relies on financial and in-kind donations.
We appreciate the commitment people of the West Valley have shown our residents and we’ll humbly ask for your support again as we seek additional funds to serve this very real need. To learn more how you can contribute, please call Michelle McCreary at 480.226.8172 or contact Tom Hutchinson, Executive Vice President of Programs at 623.934.1991, ext. 246.
Faith House Advisory Council
- Keely Bamberg, Strategente
- Radhika Bhandari, Community Advocate
- Kathy Bollinger (Chair), Banner Health Arizona West Region President
- Ian Dowdy, Faith House Volunteer
- Ruth Egger, Faith House Volunteer
- Brandon Esquer, Faith House Volunteer
- Coiya Kirchoff, Banner Baywood Medical Center/Banner Heart Hospital
- Rikki Long, Critical Care Medical Specialist, MD
- Betty Lynch, former Avondale Mayor
- Jason Robinson, UPS
- Dianne Smith, Greater Phoenix Educational Management Council
- Lynn & Bill Wilson, Realtors and Community Advocates
- David Woolstrum, UPS
Kathy Bollinger is president of Banner Health’s Arizona West Region, former CEO of Banner Estrella Medical Center and Chair of the Faith House Advisory Council. Faith House is a program of A New Leaf, a nonprofit organization that serves a variety of valley-wide human services needs including homelessness, domestic abuse and behavioral health. For more information, visit: http://www.turnanewleaf.org.
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