The need for DV Reform: NDVH ?Sponsor an Advocate? fundraising ...
My professional advice to Sheila Marlow, Development Director of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, is to higher a new development staff.? ?Sponsor an Advocate? is a new fundraising tool that the NDVH is pushing onto the public.
https://donate.ncfv.org/hotline/meet-an-advocate
Any individual can visit the NDVH website and ?sponsor an advocate? and automatically know how their advocate?s day is going and get weekly email updates.? ?To know these advocates is to know the power of the Hotline?-this is the most bizarre statement I have ever read.? The hotline, any hotline, is just a referral service, and there are millions of these referral services all over the US.? Shelters, governments DV agencies, and Coalitions are all referral services.? There are more referral services than direct services for crime victims.
?Meet Diane, Rebecca and Josie. Three amazing advocates, each with stories to tell. If you choose to sponsor one of these women, you?ll get the chance to see what life at The Hotline is really like. You?ll be able to encourage them as they work, and in return they will email you and tell you how their week is going.?
This statement is then followed by ?Sponsor one Hotline Advocate for $35, $70, or $100? and billing information requests.
For $35 I can learn about ?Diane?- A survivor herself, she remembers how it felt to watch her daughter be abused at the hands of a first love. To those parents, Diane shares a message of hope and education. This soon-to-be grandma celebrates family, enjoying board games and dinners at home with her four children. Diane is a garden-tending and shower-singing advocate.?
??Josie? sounds more intriguing- This spunky grandma is a true original.? Josie has committed 14 years to the Hotline?Josie is a proud grandma that plays tennis and loves to sew; she is also a survivor herself!
In all seriousness, this is preposterous and as a Victim Service Provider I never refer victims in need to a hotline.? As technology evolves, so should society and our social services.?? Hotlines are referral services, as is every shelter, agency and resource provider in the country, and in order to eradicate domestic violence, resource providers need to change and offer more than just referrals.? Victims that have computers have the ability to search for the resources they need through the Internet, and all resources are available on the Internet.? I do not support more government, public, or private funding allocated toward referral services when there is a great need for direct services in the US.
?Funding should be allocated toward ?direct? services.? Instead, the funding is being given to the agencies that are only providing referrals.? As a national victim service provider that offers direct services, I do not support these particular public solicitations from the Hotline.? Everyday, victims of domestic violence in the US do not get the help they need after reaching out to the hotlines and referral services.? Resources need to change and we need to stop funding programs that don?t work.? stated Alexis Moore, President of Survivors In Action.
During this DV Awareness Month, we must be cognizant of who and what we are donating our money to and for.? Victims need direct services and assistance, which is a fact.? Our resources need to change and evolve with the times, and many referral services are becoming unnecessary and outdated in a time where we can Google ?domestic violence shelter?.
As a victim of domestic violence, I was overly referred and ignored by all referral agencies and finding no ?real? resource to assist was a great let down, as it is for many that reach out to the Hotline.?? Domestic violence funding needs to be reallocated to resources that provide actual services, and less should be given to programs that act as the middleman between victim and direct service provider.
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