Laura’s House Gets a Helping Hand from Wells Fargo Merchant Services
Posted on October 17, 2011
Volunteers donate their time to help Laura’s House clean and organize the garage at its transitional housing facility
LADERA RANCH, Calif., Oct. 17, 2011 – Annually, Laura’s House provides emergency shelter and transitional housing services to more than 200 women and children who are fleeing violent homes. Among the many organizations in Orange County that support Laura’s House in fulfilling its mission to change the social beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that perpetuate domestic violence while creating a safe place in which to empower individuals and families affected by abuse, is Wells Fargo Merchant Services.
During September 2011, seven volunteers from Wells Fargo Merchant Services Orange County donated their time to help Laura’s House organize and clean out the garage at its transitional housing facility. Used as a storage facility for clothing, dry goods, furniture and other items that are critical to providing shelter residents with a safe and welcoming environment in which to build violence free lives, the garage must be organized and inventory taken on a regular basis.
“We are grateful to the volunteers at Wells Fargo Merchant Services who took time out of their busy schedules to help us clean and organize our storage room,” said Amy Borst, Clinical Director for Laura’s House. “The priority of our shelter staff is to ensure that the women and children who arrive seeking refuge are provided with food, clothing, and a warm bed to sleep in. The volunteers were tremendously helpful, and enabled us to complete our regular cleaning and inventory both quickly and efficiently, which gave our shelter staff more time to attend to the needs of our residents.”
Rosemary Hale, Vice President and Market Services Manager for Wells Fargo Merchant Services in Orange County organized the volunteer project. “Personally, I am an advocate for women’s shelters and I am thrilled that Wells Fargo Merchant Services and our team here shares that commitment,” said Hale. “After completing the community service project at Laura’s House, our team expressed how much they enjoyed the project, and what it meant to them to give back to the community by accomplishing such an important task for the shelter. Because of this project, Laura’s House now holds a special place in our hearts, and we look forward to doing more for the women who are served by the organization in the future.”
Laura’s House recently purchased the transitional housing facility as part of the Cornerstone Capital Campaign, $4.5 million to fund the shelter re-build project and expansion of transitional housing for shelter graduates. Laura’s House is partnering with HomeAid Orange County to complete the shelter re-build project.
More information on the programs and services offered by Laura’s House is available at www.laurashouse.org.
About the Cornerstone Capital Campaign The Laura’s House Cornerstone Capital Campaign was officially launched in September 2010 to raise $4.5 million to fund the shelter re-build project and expansion of transitional housing for shelter graduates. The campaign committee is chaired by Wayne Pinnell, who most recently serves as the chair for Laura’s House board of directors. Campaign committee members include, Chris Aitken, Jennifer Boyer, Laverne Friedmann, Randy Harmat, Wayne Pinnell, Kurt Ross, Casey Wolin and Brenda Zalke. The capital campaign has the full support of the Laura’s House Board of Directors. Honorary chairs of the Cornerstone Campaign are Bette and Wylie Aitken.
More information on the Cornerstone Campaign can be found at www.laurashouse.org or by calling (949) 361-3775.
About Laura’s House Annually, Laura’s House provides residential shelter services to more than 200 women and children, counseling to more than 300 clients, legal services to more than 300 clients and assists with more than 1,700 crisis hot-line calls. The mission of Laura’s House is changing social beliefs, attitudes and the behaviors that perpetuate domestic violence while creating a safe space in which to empower individuals and families affected by abuse.
# # #