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.

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.

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.

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.