Dear Members,
Hola and Greetings from Mujeres Unidas in South Texas!
September is Hispanic Heritage Month, and I would like to encourage you and your program particularly this month to engage your community in activities that help prevent and bring awareness of family violence, dating violence, stalking and sexual assault to the Hispanic community. In my hometown of McAllen, our family violence agency, Mujeres Unidas/Women Together is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with an exciting collaboration with Migrant Health Promotion (MHP) and Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN). Mujeres Unidas/ Women Together, MHP and MCN are hosting De Hombre a Hombre (Man to Man). This program engages Hispanic males in the prevention of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, dating violence and stalking. This month’s Membership Matters issue provides you with great national resources for engaging the Hispanic community in family violence awareness and intervention and highlights innovative projects from two family violence programs in the Valley working closely with the Hispanic communities.
Let’s take the time to honor all the Hispanic executive leaders, advocates, volunteers in the Texas movement who are working so diligently to end family violence and create safe Texas families.
Estella De Anda
Executive Director, Women Together / Mujeres Unidas
TCFV Board Vice Chair, NCFV Board Member, Region 8 Area Director
TCFV Friend Member
TCFV Category I Member
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Program Updates:
In this issue, we highlight two programs that are finding unique ways to reach out to the Latino communities in the areas they serve.
Casa De Misericordia, Laredo, TX
Casa De Misericorida has received Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) accreditation. Casa’s accreditation allows staff member Iliana Arambula to file U Visas and VAWA petitions on behalf of clients who do not have legal status. Casa also works closely with several other legal agencies in Laredo in an effort to serve as many survivors as possible and has partnered with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid (TRLA), the Mexican Consulate, St. Mary’s University Law Program, as well as local attorneys.
Casa De Misericordia is a TCFV Category 1 member. For more information, click here
If you are interested in having your program BIA accredited in order to provide more comprehensive immigration legal services to survivors, visit the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) website at: http://cliniclegal.org/resources/toolkit-bia-recogition-accreditation.
McAllen Mujeres Unidas/Women Together, McAllen, TX
Mujeres Unidas/Women Together is participating in De Hombre a Hombre (Man to Man) an exciting collaboration with Migrant Health Promotion (MHP) and Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN.) De Hombre a Hombre engages Spanish-speaking residents and immigrants of Hidalgo County including immigrants through culturally competent outreach, group education and community organizing strategies utilizing the Promotora model (Community Health Workers Model). The trained Promotores will implement MCN’s bilingual Hombres Unidos Contra la Violencia Familiar (Men Against Family Violence) curriculum. This curriculum consists of five two-hour long group sessions. Men who engage as leaders from these groups will form a network to promote the on-going engagement of men to prevent sexual and intimate partner violence. It is our hope that by reaching out specifically to Hispanic males we will impact the families at-risk for IPV and other forms of violence.
Mujeres Unidas is a Category 1 member. For more information, click here.
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Resources for Hispanic Heritage Month:
National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence (Alianza) http://www.dvalianza.org/
Domestic Violence and Culture: Moving Toward more Sophisticated Encounters http://www.melissainstitute.org/documents/eighth/DOMESTIC_VIOLENCE_CULTURE.pdf
National Latino Fatherhood and Family Institute: Men Taking Responsibility http://www.nlffi.org/
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Funding/Grant Notice:
Grant Funding Available Now for Veterinary Care or Boarding of Pets
RedRover, a national animal protection and education non-profit organization, offers emergency grants of up to $500 to help people staying in domestic violence shelters keep their pets safe, too. If the pet(s) belonging to one of your clients is in urgent need of veterinary care or boarding, please visit www.redrover.org/domestic for more information and to apply. Funds are available now.
Please note, the grant application must be completed by a DV shelter representative on behalf of the client.
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Upcoming trainings:
Enhancing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence Cases (EJS) Workshop (Baltimore, MD). September 18-21. Click here for more information.
National Women of Color Economic Policy and Leadership Summit for Anti-Violence, Economic Justice, and Social Justice Advocates (Washington, DC) September 14-16. Click here for more information.
Faith and Culture: Domestic Violence in Latin Relationships (webinar) , September 22, 11:00am-12:00pm PT). Click here for more information.
Unified- Working Together to End Sexual and Domestic Abuse ( Arlington) September 29-30. Click here to register.
Nuestras Voces/Our Voices- National Bilingual Sexual Assault Conference, Arte Sana. (Padre Island, TX) November 1-2. Click here for more information.
The Texas Conference for Women (Houston). November 17, 2011. Click here to register.
Enhancing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence Cases (EJS) Workshop (Santa Fe, NM). December 4-7. Click here for more information.
Responding to Crime Victims with Disabilities National Training Conference (Orlando, FL). December 13-15. Click here for more information.
2012 Conference on Crimes Against Women (Dallas) March 26-28. Click here for more information.
The 6th Biennial National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence (San Francisco, CA). March 29-30, 2012. Click here for more information
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Upcoming Events:
Want to get more involved with your local family violence program? Check out the Member Events page to for a listing of upcoming events in your area.
