Welcome to the NDVH Survivors’ Blog

Every couple of weeks we will post a new blog entry by one of our many wonderful guest bloggers. We invite you to post your comments and discuss issues openly. We are committed to maintaining a positive, caring, non-judgmental environment and allowing open and honest discussions to take place. We will only step in as moderators if there are violations of our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines. Please read them both carefully. If you have any questions, feel free to contact one of our moderators.

PBS Documentary on Domestic Violence to Premiere at Newseum in Washington D.C.

Posted: May 18, 2010 | Comment

Actress and domestic violence prevention activist Mariska Hargitay, of NBC-TV’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, will introduce and appear in Telling Amy’s Story, a documentary on domestic violence that will premiere May 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Newseum, prior to being broadcast on PBS stations nationwide starting in June.

The documentary, created by Penn State Public Broadcasting, chronicles the time leading up to the death of Amy Homan McGee, a mother of two who was shot and killed by her husband. A question-and-answer session to include Sheryl Cates, CEO Emeritus of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, will follow.

The story of Amy Homan McGee is frightening and difficult to believe.  This hard working mother of two small children was tragically murdered at the hands of her abusive husband.

Penn State Public Broadcasting made a documentary and talked with her family, friends, law enforcement and court officials who were involved with the case to get their perspective on what happened in the weeks, months, and years leading up to Amy’s death.
 
This documentary was made so Amy Homan McGee and other victims’ voices of domestic violence will not be forgotten.  The National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) would like communities across the nation to begin a dialogue of how their community can save lives and change the outcome of Amy’s story.  NDVH believes that domestic violence is preventable.   We as communities can not change the outcome of Amy’s life, but we can be an accountable community working positively wifh families for a different outcome. 
 
Through this documentary, you will never forget Amy Homan McGee and we applaud Verizon Foundation and Penn State Public Broadcasting for collaborating on this documentary and engaging communities and showing that we all have a part to play in ending domestic violence.  To see a trailer of the movie and find out how you can get it shown in your area, visit telling.psu.edu.
 
Domestic violence is preventable and we can all play a part in social change.

National Coalition Responds to Recent Tragic Death of University of Virginia Student Yeardley Love

Posted: May 11, 2010 | Comment

Parents of murdered dating violence victims, advocates and legislators are uniting to fight for education to prevent dating violence. The recent tragic death of University of Virginia student Yeardley Love has brought attention to the need for teen dating violence education legislation. loveisrespect, National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline, Seventeen Magazine and the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL) are joining forces through Liz Claiborne Inc.’s MADE – Moms and Dads for Education to Stop Teen Dating Abuse – to ensure every middle school and high school in every state across the country teaches a curriculum about preventing dating relationship violence and abuse each year. Currently, only four states, Rhode Island, Texas, Ohio and Nebraska, have passed strong laws requiring school districts to have a dating violence policy to address incidents of dating violence at school. Please click here to read the full press release. News coverage of the tragic event is available at  ABC.com.

Be Smart. Be Well Campaign Educates the Public about Domestic Violence

Posted: May 7, 2010 | Comment

Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas has just launched their Be Smart. Be Well campaign. The campaign aims to educate the public so they can make good healthy choices. They have put together several videos on a variety of topics such as childhood obesity, sexually transmitted diseases and domestic violence. The domestic violence section includes a lot of great information. National Domestic Violence Hotline CEO Sheryl Cates was interviewed last year for the campaign. Please click here to visit the campaign website.

Whole Foods Launches Twitter Campaign Supporting The Hotline

Posted: May 5, 2010 | Comment

Whole Foods is hosting a Twitter fundraiser to support those moms who need extra love this Mother’s Day benefitting The National Domestic Violence Hotline. Whole Foods Market will donate $1 for each re-tweet (up to $10,000) of the following message: Support Moms in Need! @WholeFoods will donate $1 for each RT of this msg thru 5/9 (up to $10k) to @NDVH (Nat’l Domestic Violence Hotline). The campaign will run from May 5-9. Please click here to visit the WholeFoods Twitter page; please click here to visit The Hotline Twitter page. Be sure to support The Hotline by retweeting the message.

A Message from the Board of Directors

Posted: Apr 29, 2010 | Comment

After careful consideration by a board search committee and by unanimous vote of the board of directors, we are honored to announce that Dyanne Purcell, former Chief Operating Officer for our organization, is the new Chief Executive Officer for the National Council on Family Violence, Texas Council on Family Violence and the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Dyanne is an outstanding leader who has demonstrated unwavering commitment to the mission and success of our organization since she first arrived over 13 years ago.  She is a skilled communicator and brings 20+ years of nonprofit leadership and achievements to the CEO role.  She is skilled at board, employee, donor and government relations, financial management and executive administration. 

Dyanne has dedicated over 20 years of her life to touching and changing lives of individuals through non-profit advocacy and she is a perfect fit as the next leader of our organization.   Because of her vast organizational knowledge and work in the domestic violence field there will be a seamless leadership transition.

Sheryl Cates will continue to serve the organization as CEO Emeritus through August 31, 2010.   We are immensely grateful to Sheryl for her tremendous leadership, dedication and tireless efforts to create options and positive changes for domestic violence victims and survivors. 

Dyanne and the entire board remain fully committed to continuing the many important projects and initiatives currently underway and to fully supporting the work of our partners and allies in the domestic violence community.

National Crime Victims’ Rights Week

Posted: Apr 21, 2010 | Comment

Each April since 1981, the Office of Justice Programs has helped lead communities throughout the country in observing National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) by promoting victims’ rights and honoring crime victims and those who advocate on their behalf.

This year’s theme is Crime Victims’ Rights: Fairness. Dignity. Respect. Communities throughout the nation are rallying in support of NCVRW. This is a time for everyone to learn about victimization, reflect on the devastating effects crime has on our community and society and to support the laws, policies and programs that aid victims of crime. Please click here to visit the official Office of Justice Programs 2010 NCVRW page.

What You Can Do Series Addresses Domestic Violence

Posted: Mar 15, 2010 | Comment

Katie Ray-Jones, Operations Director for the National Domestic Violence Hotline recently participated in an online interview with On the Leesh Productions for their What You Can Do Series. The Series hopes to prove that our greatest issues are solvable one minute at a time. The interview focused on many interesting issues related to domestic violence including misunderstandings about domestic violence, unreported cases and statistics.  Please click here to read the whole interview. They also have created a really informative and thought provoking PSA about domestic violence, based on the one minute concept. Statistics used in the video were provided by The Hotline. Please click here to view the PSA.

On the Leesh Productions is a New York City based company devoted to the production of innovative, energetic and challenging film, theater, webseries and instructional video.