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News, Upcoming Trainings, Other Resources
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Image provided by Purchase College
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November is...Native American Heritage Month
Native American Heritage Month is an opportunity to reflect on the continued contributions made by Indigenous people, as well as bringing awareness to the challenges that remain for many tribal communities.
Domestic violence and sexual assault rates are high in Indigenous communities. According to the U.S. Department of Justice:
- In a study of more than 2,000 Native American and Alaska Native women, 84 percent reported having experienced violence.
- In 2016, 56 perent of Native women experienced sexual violence.
- More than 90 percent of that group experienced violence from a non-tribal member.
- American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women are 1.7 times more likely than White women to have experienced violence in the past year.
In addition, Indigenous survivors of violence are more likely to experience injuries requiring medical treatment and less likely to access services than non-Native women. According to the NIJ Report (Rosay, 2016):
- AI/AN women are 1.5 times as likely as non-Hispanic white female victims to be physically injured.
- AI/AN women are 1.9 times as likely as non-Hispanic white women to have missed days of work or school as a result of their victimization.
- AI/AN are 2.5 times as likely as non-Hispanic white women to lack access to necessary services.
The resources below offer information emerging issues related to Indigenous communities and how you can implement culturally specific, healing-informed care to improve safety and wellness for Native populations. Also, be sure to read the Colorado Sun article below about the Hasaya Indigenous Healing Garden and its efforts to help Indigenous women heal from abuse.
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Resources
National Congress of American Indians: the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization serving the broad interests of tribal governments and communities.
Safe Women, Strong Nations: a branch of the Indian Law Resource Center that partners with Native women’s organizations and Indian and Alaska Native nations to end violence against Native women and children.
Reclaiming our Spirits: a video documenting the experiences of Indigenous women, elders and nurses working together to heal from violence.
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Stacey Smith, Grants and Office Manager
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Fundraising Team Update
This time of year calls us to be thankful, show gratitude and be generous. Include impactful, relatable stories in your year-end emails that encourage donors to give. Be sure to include a big “THANK YOU!” with all your year-end giving donor emails. We couldn't do what we do without their generous support!
Here are some opportunities to engage your donors in year-end giving:
Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3: This site has plenty of tips to help you maximize Giving Tuesday this year.
Colorado Gives Day, Dec. 10:Visit the Colorado Gives Day website to learn how your organization can raise funds for this statewide philanthropic celebration.
Giving Assistant: Giving Assistant gives donors a way to easily give to your organization at no additional cost. Your purchases at more than 1,800 popular online retailers have the power to support the missions of nonprofits. When you earn cash back using their platform, you can also choose to donate a percentage of those earnings to Violence Free Colorado. Check out our Giving Assistant page as an example, then start your own page!
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Hannah Colter, Community Impact Specialist
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Community Impact Team Update
Violence Free Colorado is thrilled to welcome Hannah Colter to the Community Impact Team! She will be working in communications, community outreach, membership and violence prevention.
Prior to joining the coalition, she worked for three years as an advocate with survivors of relationship violence, as well as provided community outreach, consulting, and education on this topic. She has her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Global Development Studies from Grinnell College and her Master’s in Gender and Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies/University of Sussex. You can reach Hannah at hcolter@violencefreeco.org or 303-962-3322.
And speaking of membership, mark your calendars for our 2020 membership drive! We're ready to assist you with the renewal process so that you can get quick access to all the benefits that come with a Violence Free Colorado membership.
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Lydia Waligorski, Public Policy Director
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Policy Team Update
Violence Free Colorado will host Policy and Pie on Jan. 10, 2020. Enjoy some pizza with us, hear more about the bills we're working on for the upcoming legislative session and learn about the ways that you can get involved with the Public Policy team.
We'll also feature a virtual option to attend the meeting if you can't make it in person. And if you gather five friends to watch the event with you, we'll send you a gift card so you can enjoy some pie on us!
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 | Liz Stuewe,
Training and TA Manager
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Training and TA UpdateWe have a full slate of upcoming webinars, including a six-part Healthy Organizations webinar series through February 2020. See the full schedule below, and find active registration links to the December sessions in the Upcoming Trainings section of this newsletter.
Brown Bag Webinar: noon, Nov. 12
Topic: One Love Foundation: Free Video-Based Relationship Violence Prevention Education Tools
Join us for a webinar with One Love, a national leader in healthy relationship tools, with One Love West Coast Engagement Manager Megan Gray. During this webinar you’ll have the chance to view some of their content and explore ways in which you can implement their tools into your prevention education. Register today!
Brown Bag Webinar: noon, Dec. 10
Topic: What the Heck is an ERPO? Extreme Risk Protection Order
What the heck is an ERPO? How does this impact my work as an advocate? When can someone get it? What can I do and not do?
Join our Brown Bag for answers to these burning questions and more about Colorado’s new Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law (HB19-1177) which takes effect Jan. 1, 2020. Our presenters are Violence Free Colorado Public Policy Director Lydia Waligorski, and Marnie Kamensky, the Outreach Director of Colorado Ceasefire. Register today!
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Webinars and Web-Based Trainings
Do you have an upcoming training or event that you'd like to share with the Violence Free Colorado community? Post an event on our website calendar!
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In Person Trainings, Conferences and Events
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Hasaya Indigenous Healing Garden for Indigenous women impacted by violence featured in Colorado Sun
A vacant lot has been converted into the Haseya Indigenous Healing Garden, where Native women who have experienced violence can come together, garden, connect with others and use traditional ways of healing to make a life change. The garden is part of an effort by the Haseya Advocate Program, a Colorado Springs-based nonprofit serving Native American women who have experienced domestic abuse or sexual assault.
Learn more about Haseya and its efforts to help abused women connect with one another and access resources for healing in this recent article in the Colorado Sun.
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Violence Free Colorado reveals new Health and Domestic Violence section on website
Violence Free Colorado's website has a new featured section on health and domestic violence. Survivors can learn how abuse impacts health, find information about relationship violence, and locate local services to help explore options for safety, medical treatment and other community resources.
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