Dear Friends,
On Day Three of our crowdfunding campaign in support of the “Domestic Violence Training Program for Religious Leaders,” with our partner CONNECT Faith we wanted to send a note of thanks and give an update for those of you who have so generously responded.
First, thank you to those who heard our message and immediately joined the campaign for domestic violence training for religious leaders via http://igg.me/at/DVtrainings/x/1383481. So far we have raised almost $2000 achieving 30% of our goal of $5,000. Some of you wrote in from as far away as Israel, others responded by sharing the email with your networks, some donors have given to us before and for others it was something new. We have been reminded of the host of people and organizations already doing work in this area including Rabbi Diana Gerson, Director of the New York Board of Rabbi’s Family Violence Prevention Initiative http://www.dayenu.org/ Robina Niaz, who addresses these needs in the Muslim community through Turning Point for Women and Families http://tpny.org/ and SAHKI an anti-domestic violence organization that works with South Asian women and girls http://www.sakhi.org/
These local grassroots efforts could not be more vital in combating an epidemic that knows no boundaries. At this moment, thousands of women representing NGO’s and governments from around the world are meeting to address domestic violence at the United Nations’ 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women http://www.ngocsw.org/ which is specifically focused on the “elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against girls and women.” The problem is vast and the solutions begin with us.
In launching our campaign to continue funding ICNY’s Domestic Violence training partnership with CONNECT, we are glad to share the following updates from congregations whose religious leaders graduated from the program and went on to provide services to their communities. Updates include:
· Father Michael Lynch of Monika Ministries informed us that his church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel has decided to publish their Domestic Violence hotline phone number in their Sunday Church bulletin, to discuss a letter from the United States Conference of Bishops on Domestic Violence in regular Sunday sermons, and to place pamphlets with DV hotlines in the pews and restrooms of the church.
· This is the third week of the Women for Afghan Women support group in Queens, where our partner CONNECT Faith is leading domestic violence trainings that are conducted in English, Urdu, Pashto, and Farsi.
· Arvind Kaur, graduate and founder of The Kaur Sisters, a women’s empowerment group for Sikh women in Richmond Hill Queens, reminded us that the group met recently to try and prevent further abuse such as that suffered by Jyoti Singh Pandey in India.
If you are motivated to take (further) action, we invite you to aid the campaign in any of the following ways:
1. Spread the word – Achieving our goal requires getting the word out to thousands of people. Because you care about this issue, chances are that your friends & colleagues might care about it too. Give them the chance to advocate for the cause by letting them know about the campaign! http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/337851/x/1383481.
2. If you have already made a donation to the campaign, please return to the site and post some comments about the program for others to read. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/337851/x/1383481.
3. Donations are of course warmly accepted! http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/337851/x/1383481.
Obviously, we believe in the importance of this work. But we also believe in the power that a network of caring people can create when we work together to address issues such as this.
Thank you,
The Rev. Chloe Breyer
Executive Director
The Interfaith Center of New York
