12/13/2019
Your monthly news & updates
Welcome to the Anti-Violence Partnership's newsletter! Through this monthly email, we'll keep you up to date on everything that's happening at AVP. We'll highlight events we hold, people we cherish and news we think is relevant to the world of victim service.
#OfferHope This Holiday Season!

  • Provided free, professional counseling to more than 500 victims of violent crime 
  • Served more than 220 youth of color through our Youth Violence Outreach program
  • Supported 2,400 victims of crime and their loved ones through victim advocacy and court accompaniment
  • Conducted research in coordination with agencies across the city to improve Philadelphia’s response to homicide

These are just a few ways that AVP made a difference in 2019.

This holiday season, we are asking you to support this crucial work. With your help, we will raise $15,000 to support victims of crime in the city we call home.
Consider  partnering with AVP this holiday season  and offer hope to those in our city who have been affected by violence. 
Partners can also choose to give back through  AmazonSmile . Through this program, Amazon will donate a percentage of the cost of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to AVP – with no extra cost to you!
AVP Partners with Theatre Exile for On The Exhale
AVP is excited to partner with  Theatre Exile , a nonprofit theater company in South Philadelphia, for their production of On the Exhale by Martin Zimmerman. This play will run through December 22.
 
As this play addresses sensitive subject matter related to gun violence, AVP’s clinical staff have consulted with Theatre Exile’s creative staff to ensure that the theatre takes a trauma-informed approach toward sharing the story with audiences.
 
For tickets, click  here and make sure you select Anti-Violence Partnership from the “How did you hear about us?” drop-down at check out to donate $5 of the ticket cost to AVP!
 
This play is for mature audiences only. It includes graphic descriptions of gun violence against children.
Giving Tuesday Update
THANK YOU for helping make our Giving Tuesday campaign such a success! We raised $1,460 in 24 hours - more than 5 times our initial $300 goal.

You've given victims of crime dozens of hours of free therapy and helped us continue to grow Trauma Yoga and other programs like it. We couldn't be more thrilled to have such a generous community.
Trauma-Sensitive Yoga
Starting January 8, AVP will be holding weekly trauma-sensitive yoga groups one floor above our Farimount-area office:
This will be our second yoga series with instructor Ashley Sonson, who led classes at our West Philadelphia location earlier this year. Therapist Amanda Col ón , who participated in the 2019 sessions, was thrilled with the experience, writing:

"It's not a traditional support group; we don't ask that participants engage with each other, we don't ask people to share their past experiences or how they're feeling. Yet, over the course of the series, participants built a sense of community. They connected more deeply with themselves and with each other. At the end, one participant asked if we could take a photo together beause it "felt like family." I was so touched by that! The TS-Yoga group is truly special and I feel grateful to have been a part of it."

The yoga classes are free of cost, like all services at AVP. If you or somebody you know could benefit from our trauma-sensitive yoga group, please see the flyer for contact information (or don't hesitate to reply to this email!). We hope to see you there!
Meet AVP
A few words from Board Member
Jatu A. Bracewell
We asked Jatu A. Bracewell, the newest member of the AVP Board of Directors, to write a little about joining our organization, where she comes from and where she wants to go:

Joining AVP’s board has allowed me to take a deep dive into the anti-violence movement. There was a time when I served the communities of Philadelphia and Miami as a psychotherapist to survivors of trauma. Many of their traumas were rooted from violence.

In 2016, I transitioned from direct counseling to public service through Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disabilities (DBHIDS).

It’s been a humbling experience to learn about the different needs a family has following the violent death of a loved one. Navigating the justice system is one need that’s easily overlooked. AVP provides this and more. My formal training includes a Master of Public Health and Masters of Family Therapy from Drexel University. I hope to use the lens of both Public Health and Family Therapy to offer support and advice as a Board Member.