Network for Victim Recovery of DC's (NVRDC) fiscal year 2018 (FY18) commenced with rewarding outreach opportunities, inspiring fundraising events, and ever-expanding special projects.
Keep reading to learn how NVRDC has been staying busy in the first months of FY18!
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Art created at October's Share Your Story.
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Impact Snapshot:
October through
December 2017
142
new case management clients
88%
more office intakes* than in FY17 Q4
NVRDC advocates responded to the
hospital
97
times
50
safe rides to or from the hospital provided
65
new clients across all legal programs
That is in addition to
75
continuing legal cases
from prior months to October 2017
9
on-campus meetings or hearings for
Title IX cases
NVRDC worked with a total of
343
clients
between October and December 2017
*versus hospital intakes
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On O
ctober 11, NVRDC staff were featured in media interviews—not once, but twice! Watch us on
ABC7 News
and listen to us on Howard University's radio station,
WHUR-FM 96.3
!
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We attended DV awareness events at a Ward 8 church, at American University, and at the Takoma Park metro station! In Q1, we trained 87 professionals & attended 14 outreach events.
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Our 6th annual Share Your Story Art event on October 26 was a success! Thanks to all who participated and also to everyone who donated their art to our silent auction fundraiser in November!
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In the first quarter, the
Pro Bono Program
at NVRDC was busy with several trainings, a significant number of new cases, and an addition to the team. The program made 16 new referrals and ended the quarter with 27 pending matters.
Hogan Lovells
made a particularly strong impact this quarter, taking on six of those new referrals! In addition, we trained 23 attorneys in four pro bono trainings over the course of the quarter.
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Starting in early January, we welcomed
Charlotte Keenan
as the new Pro Bono Coordinator. Charlotte has served as a Staff Attorney at NVRDC since May 2016. Prior to that, she was a Staff Attorney at Break the Cycle in Washington, DC, and in Chicago she supervised the Domestic Violence Pilot Project at the Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse. We are excited to see her bring her experience to this new role!
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National Pro Bono Week and the locally celebrated
DC Pro Bono Week
are annual celebrations of the crucial pro bono work of attorneys in our community. Thanks to the organization and leadership of
Washington Council of Lawyers
, NVRDC had the opportunity to acknowledge these efforts and to emphasize the importance of equipping our legal community with tools and resources to provide increased access to justice for DC residents.
This year, NVRDC offered three events for attorneys who wanted to learn more about supporting survivors by engaging in pro bono work with NVRDC. On October 24, the "Lawyer Logistics When Representing Survivors in DC Superior Court" courthouse tour offered a ground floor look at the work of our attorneys. A second training, "Representing Survivors in Title IX Cases: NVRDC Campus Advocacy Pro Bono Training” on October 27 delved into one area of representation in which NVRDC specializes: Title IX and gender-based violence on campus.
NVRDC ended the week with a special Pro Bono Appreciation Happy Hour to laud those who comprise our firm partnerships and make
NVRDC’s Pro Bono Program
more powerful each year.
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*name has been changed to protect client’s identity
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After being assaulted by her employer's family member, Elsa*, a Spanish-speaking housekeeper, reached out to NVRDC for assistance. Elsa was assaulted in the home of her employer and, when the police came to take a report, they failed to provide Elsa with an interpreter. Elsa never heard from the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) about prosecution and came to NVRDC for assistance. Elsa was introduced to an attorney at NVRDC and, after some investigation, it was discovered that Elsa’s rights as a victim of a crime had not been complied with. She had not been informed of prosecution, and thus she had not been reasonably heard. Elsa was not consulted about whether she wanted the criminal case to move forward. In fact, only the client's employer was contacted and the USAO was not aware of Elsa. NVRDC brought this to the USAO's attention and they re-filed the charges. With the support of her NVRDC attorney, the client succeeded in finding justice and as a result of the client's perseverance, the defendant was successfully prosecuted.
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Increasing Access to Legal Service Providers
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This quarter
VLNDC
has seamlessly transitioned from the pilot phase into providing full services to victims of crime in DC seeking legal assistance. In this quarter alone, the network assisted 33 different individuals with 66 legal needs in receiving services either from within network members, or external resources. While a little more than half of these individuals were referred by member organizations,
Alexandra Smith
, the VLNDC Navigator, executed the rest of the intakes.
...Read the full update.
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If you have a printed copy of the Catalogue, you can find us on page 51.
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Giving Tuesday was on November 28, 2017 this year and we nearly doubled the number of donors from Giving Tuesday 2016! 29 donors together gave over $5,000 to
NVRDC programs
!
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Catch up on NVRDC's latest blog posts! Some of our recent posts include:
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Serving Older Survivors
NVRDC continues to be committed to expanding the community's ability to respond to victims of abuse in later life through its DC TROV project. This year, DC TROV encompasses three initiatives: housing-related case management to senior survivors through a subgrant to the District's Alliance for Safe Housing (
DASH
), provision of legal assistance through an Elder Justice Legal Fellow at Legal Counsel for the Elderly (
LCE
), and the continued coordination of the DC TROV multidisciplinary response team, which has been in operation for the past four years and includes police, prosecution, victim services, and aging partners who work to enhance outreach, education, and collaboration on elder cases.
...Read the full update.
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Advancing through Adversity
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On November 9, 2017, NVRDC hosted its 6th Annual Event—
Advancing through Adversity
—featuring awards that recognize outstanding individuals in our community who serve victims of all types of crime and guest speaker,
Amy Brittain
, of the Washington Post. We are so thankful to all of our guests, sponsors, and donors who made it possible to exceed our fundraising goal for the event by over $10,000!
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DC Superior Court Appoints NVRDC's Nikki Charles
to CVC Advisory
Commission
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The purpose of the Commission is three-fold:
- To provide information, training, and technical assistance to the Court and be available to consult with and advise the Court on rules and regulations for the administration of the program;
- To develop ongoing public awareness efforts and assist the Court in publicizing the program, and;
- To review the annual report submitted by the court to the Council of the District of Columbia, advise the Council of deficiencies in the Program and suggest necessary changes.
The Commission began meeting twice monthly in December of 2017.
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Staff
Jabeen Adawi
Kristin Eliason
Sarah Foster
Leise Gergely
Amanda Gould
Naida Henao
Sofia Kaut
Charlotte Keenan
Kris Klassen
Vi Mai
Audrey Meshulam
Ashley Morse
Merry O'Brien
Matt Ornstein
Ruth Perrin
Maggie Schmidt
Alex Scott
Stephanie Shea
Saron Shiferaw
Lindsey Silverberg
Alexandra Smith
Karin Tovar
Co-Executive Directors
Nikki Charles
Bridgette Stumpf
Board of Directors
Ryan Guilds, Chair
Christopher Ekimoff, Secretary
Marc Filer, Treasurer
Blair Decker
Amit Juneja
Jane Lee
Monica McHugh
Liam Montgomery
Miranda Petersen
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Miranda Petersen
Board Spotlight
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Q
: Tell us a little about yourself!
A
: I was born in California, raised in Texas and California. I went to undergrad at UCLA and then moved to DC in 2010 to work for Susan Burke, an attorney who brought a series of lawsuits against the military for their failure to prosecute rape and sexual assault, and for retaliating against survivors who reported their assaults. This motivated me to go to law school, and I ended up attending the Georgetown Law evening program.
While I was in law school I worked as the Program and Policy Director, and later the Executive Director, of Protect Our Defenders (POD). POD is an advocacy organization focused on reforming the way sexual assault is prosecuted in the military. While I was at POD I implemented and oversaw its pro bono legal network, which provides services to survivors of sexual assault and harassment in the military.
In October I joined Williams & Connolly LLP as an Associate.
Q
: When did you join the Board of Directors at NVRDC?
A
: I joined the Board in the winter of 2015!
Q
:
What is the best part of serving as a Director on the Board at NVRDC?
A
:
The best part of serving on the Board of NVRDC is that I am constantly inspired and motivated by the passion of the leadership and all of the staff. It is extremely rewarding to be able to support such an incredible and impactful organization.
Q
: Can you share a favorite meaningful milestone or accomplishment from working with NVRDC?
A
: A recent favorite moment was attending this year's annual event and seeing that it was such a success. The bulk of the credit goes to the Executive Directors for making it happen. I helped Bridgette brainstorm speakers for the event, and it ended up being a really powerful and moving program. I thought the event highlighted so well the spirit and commitment of NVRDC to its mission, and I could tell that it had an effect on the audience - particularly those who were being newly introduced to the organization.
Q
: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
A
: I enjoy exercising. When it isn't quite so cold I take long walks around the city, or a long weekend bike ride. I love living in DC and try to take advantage of it whenever possible. The Hirshorn and the newly renovated East Wing of the National Gallery are two of my favorite spots in the city.
Give us a "Fun Fact"!
Miranda
:
I have two cats, Charlie and Prudence.
Their constant antics keep me on my toes!
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Help us make a difference!
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We at the Network for Victim Recovery of DC are committed to providing victims of all types of crime with a safe and supportive place to advocate for their rights and define justice for themselves.
We could not do the work we do without the support of our donors and we would love to add you to the list of generous people who are lifting up survivors and making our services possible. Click below to make a gift today!
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You can also support our work by purchasing donations from our
Amazon Wishlist
, which has items we often provide to survivors whose clothes are collected as evidence or to survivors who are homeless without access to basic toiletries.
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NVRDC's staff and board thank all of those who
contribute
time
,
financial
support
,
energy
, &
love
to empowering victims and survivors of crime in DC.
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NVRDC Staff & Board of Directors
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6856 Eastern Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20012
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