The $370,000 grant is part of the Cornerstone Capital Campaign, a $4.5 million fundraising initiative supporting the expansion of the Laura’s House emergency shelter and Step Ahead Transitional Housing facility
LADERA RANCH, Calif., Oct. 6, 2011 – Laura’s House, a non-profit organization whose mission is to change the social beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that perpetuate domestic violence, while creating a safe space in which to empower individuals and families affected by abuse, today announced it has received a $370,000 grant from the Children & Families Commission of Orange County (CFC).
The CFC grant is in support of the Cornerstone Capital Campaign, a $4.5 million fundraising initiative launched by Laura’s House in September 2010, to raise money to rebuild its emergency shelter, and expand its transitional housing facility for families impacted by domestic violence. Laura’s House is partnering with HomeAid Orange County in the shelter rebuild project. To date, the campaign has raised more than $3 million.
“The Children & Families Commission’s goal is to ensure all children are healthy and ready to learn when they enter kindergarten,” said Sandy Barry, Chair of the Children and Families Commission of Orange County. “We know that a basic component to a child’s success is a safe and stable home environment and our partnership with Laura’s House will help bring critical programs and services to children and families who need it most.
“Laura’s House is grateful to the Children & Families Commission of Orange County for supporting us in the expansion of our emergency shelter and transitional housing facilities for women and children who are fleeing violent homes,” said Margaret Bayston, CEO and Executive Director, Laura’s House. “Their support, along with the generosity of many other private donors, foundations and corporate sponsors is making it possible for our organization to better meet the growing need for domestic violence counseling and shelter services in Orange County.”
Incidents of violence in Orange County are on the rise. During 2010, 25% more women, 60% more children sought an end to the violence they experience in their home lives, when compared to the previous year. During that same year, Laura’s House provided emergency shelter services to 269 individuals, including 152 children. The new emergency shelter effectively increases the shelter’s annual capacity by 93%, and enables the organization to serve 175 additional clients annually. By expanding its emergency shelter, Laura’s House will also increase countywide capacity for serving individuals impacted by domestic violence by 15%.
“HomeAid is pleased to help Laura’s House in achieving its long-held dream of expanding its emergency shelter and transitional housing facilities," said Scott Larson, Executive Director, HomeAid Orange County. "We are committed to leveraging our strong partnerships with builders, contractors, developers and service providers to help organizations like Laura’s House provide shelter to those who are temporarily homeless. We are excited for the women and children who will be welcomed into a space that is both comfortable and conducive to helping them build lives that are free of violence."
Among the companies partnering with Laura’s House in the shelter re-build are Lutzky Associates Development, LLP; William Hezmalhalch Architects, Inc.; Huitt-Zollars, Inc.; GMU Geotechnical, Inc.; Option One Engineering; Salehi Engineering, Inc.; Western National Group Contractors; Style Interiors Design, Inc.; Fidelity National Title Company; Land Concern Ltd.; La Jolla Pacific; Morrow Management; Paskerian, Block, Martindale and Brinton, LLP; Focus 360; Constructor’s Bonding, Inc.; Firesafe Planning Solutions; Mestre Greve Associates; Friedmann & Friedmann Insurance Services; Phillips & Associates; PMC Consulting; Robert Rooks Photography.
Subcontractors and manufacturers who have partnered with Laura’s House include Aliso Air, Inc.; Capital Drywall; Boral Roofing; CPS Security Solutions; Fiber Care Baths, Inc.; Gateway Plastering; GE Appliances; Milgard Windows; Olsen Pavers; RSI Cabinetry; Smart Systems Technologies; Terra Tile; TLS Laboratories; Titan Sheet Metal, Inc.; Walker Windows; and, Yo Fire.
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 Beth Adkisson, Chris Aitken, Jennifer Boyer, Laverne Friedmann, Randy Harmat, Wayne Pinnell, 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.
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Sofie's Survivor Story
Posted on October 1, 2011
The story I would like to tell you this evening is by no means the worst abuse I suffered at the hands of my ex-husband. Sadly at the time I did not even realize it was abuse. It is the story of the day my two children and I fled our home. It is both a story of abuse and empowerment.
Early that Sunday morning my ex-husband asked me to step outside to “talk”. I refused knowing he never speaks to me with words. Something in him snapped instantly and he threw me down on the sofa bed. As my side slammed into the metal frame I hardly had time to cringe before he was on top of me pinning my chest down with his forearm yelling “you don’t know how much I love you”.
Our children heard him and came to help me. Our daughter 3 years old stretched her body over my head while our 8 year old son jumped on his own fathers back. His father elbowed him in the ribs causing him to fly backwards and into a rack of dvd's. My eyes did not leave my son as I watched him slump to the ground, and then with anger, fear and pain he stood up and jumped again on to his father’s back. Just as the rage appeared so suddenly it was gone.
Later that same day he said he was going out for a while. The kids and I went out back to play. When we came back into the house we found his truck in the drive way. My stomach sank as I walked to the front door our children at my side. When we looked out we saw my ex attacking the neighbor, he started back towards us throwing a large object in their yard. As he got closer he was yelling “ look what you made me do” words I’ll never forget - Pounded into my mind from a lifetime of abuse. Our neighbor distracted him so the children and I could flee. We ran to my son’s room and barricaded the door with his bed. Soon the pounding began and the door rocked the bed budged but we held it with all our force until it fell silent. Then seconds later he appeared in the window red faced eyes bulging my son shouted he was calling the police, and then my ex disappeared.
After he left my son began packing some clothing for him and his sister demanding “lets go mom lets go I’m not going to take this any more”.
We went to my parent’s house but were turned away - into the streets already night. My father, an electrical engineer for NASA, is an abuser as well and instructed my mother not to let us in. With my daughter crying to use the restroom, my mother gave me directions to Mc Donald’s, they would not even let her go in to pee. With nowhere else to go I parked my car two streets up from their house and called Laura’s House to begin the intake process. We were picked up the next morning.
I have been running my entire life from abuse, and fear. Always seeing my goals education, freedom come close but I kept hitting speed bumps falling skinning my knees bruising my skin. On that Sunday morning I felt my ankles crack and as I feel I lost all hope. But I did not hit the pavement instead I feel into the tightly wove arms of Laura’s House. They healed me and gave me a safe place a first home to learn how to set proper boundaries.
No more broken bones and bruises for me. Today I walk and I can see the roses around me. Though I still have a long journey ahead I know that someday I will get to stop and smell them. I will probably get stung by a bee with my luck .
Thank you all for supporting Laura’s House you helped to save our lives.
Nancy's Survivor Story
Posted on October 1, 2011
When I broke up with my boyfriend at age 19 we remained friends. He was still in my life, and so mentally I thought that was my initial break up. After a couple of months I started dating again and he became that friend who wanted to make sure I was dating someone who is good for me. I did not know this was a manipulation of knowing more information on my new life. As my new relationship was progressing I had to tell the ex boyfriend that I could not have him in my life right now as I started feeling more and more uncomfortable with him wanting to know what I was doing, and how I felt with the new guy I was dating. I told him I was moving to San Francisco to go to school and that I would be moving that weekend. He asked me to go to dinner with him one last time as our farewell dinner. I had a weird feeling at the pit of my stomach, and told him that I would only go if we have other friends around. After dinner he dropped me off and later that night around 4am that was when I woke up in flames. So, technically I wouldn't know how to write a paragraph about the day I left. I don't know if my story would fit into that category or not since I felt that mentally I had broken up with him a year before the incident.
Where did I go? I was in the hospital for almost 2 months. After that, I stayed at my grandmother's house until the room where he attacked me was finished from construction. My family wanted to give me a brand new room so that I can have a new beginning and it felt great when I came home. It did feel like a new beginning as I knew he was behind bars.
I really didn't know about Laura's House until earlier this year in May when I had to do a research group project. That was when I met Marissa and she came into my classroom and gave us a presentation of the cycle of violence which can turn into death. When she talked about all the red flags, I had chills and was quietly upset because no one educated me about the red flags to look for when dating. While seeing her illustration of the cycle on the board, and all the red flags written on the board confirmed MANY gut feelings that I had of him at the time. I wondered to myself, if I had been educated about all of this information when I was younger, I would've left him a long time ago. I would've left him the first time I broke up with him. Not the 8 or 9th time. But I always tell myself to never say, "WHAT IF" anymore. That phrase can drive anybody up the walls. What happened to me was a blessing in disguise.
The attack happened 11 years ago on July 2nd, 2000. It took me 11 years later to see all that information on the white board. 11 years later was the confirmation that there is information like this out there. Laura's House is a great organization and I am very glad to be part of the LH family. =) After meeting with Marissa and getting to know about Laura's House, I now have the passion to educate teenagers and women (and boys and men!) about the cycle of dating violence that can lead to death one day and to empower women that there is life after trauma. A real good life if you can ride out the challenges that life throws at you. =)
Laura’s House launches newly redesigned Website
Posted on September 1, 2011
Designed by Irvine-based Side Studios, the new site provides the community with information on programs and services for families impacted by domestic violence, while offering a “quick escape” to protect those who are seeking help
LADERA RANCH, Calif., Sept. 1, 2011 –Laura’s House, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to change the social beliefs, attitudes and the behaviors that perpetuate domestic violence while creating a safe place in which to empower individuals and families affected by abuse, today announced the launch of its newly redesigned Website at www.laurashouse.org.
The development of the new Website is the final step in a branding campaign that Laura’s House launched in 2009, to create an image the more closely represented the organization’s primary objective, which is to empower individuals and families to lead violent-free lives.
“As part of our branding campaign and the launch of our newly redesigned Website, our goal is to actively demonstrate the key characteristics that define our organization,” said Andrea McCallister, Director of Development and Communications for Laura’s House. “We feel that this has been achieved in a warm and welcoming Website that offers safe refuge online for those who are trying to escape violent homes, as well as serve as an informational tool for individuals, groups and corporations who want to support families affected by domestic violence. We are very pleased to have partnered with Side Studios in the development of our new Website. Their team of designers did a wonderful job of communicating our brand in a way that truly illustrates who we are as an organization.”
The new Laura’s House Website, redesigned by Irvine-based Side Studios, features information on the programs and services provided by Laura’s House, testimonials and artwork by participants in our programs, and information on resources for individuals who are affected by abuse. The site also features a “quick escape” that will direct the browser back to the user’s default browser home page, and erase information about Laura’s House from the browser’s history, to protect the safety of the victim.
Visitors to the Laura’s House Website will also find information on upcoming events, ways that they can get involved or donate, and information on shopping or donating items to Portobello Road, a resale boutique benefiting Laura’s House.
For more information on the programs and services provided by Laura’s House, call (949) 361-3775, visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LaurasHouseOC, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Lauras_House or visit our Website at www.laurashouse.org. For more information on Side Studios, visit sidestudios.com.
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.
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Laura’s House joins forces with the Dana Point Woman’s Club to “End the Silence” of Domestic Violence
Posted on August 27, 2011
[Dot Hammer, DPWC Ways & Means Vice President; Nancy Booker, DWPC President; Gary King "The Sax Man"; Joan Marie Kerr, DPWC Parliamentarian]
Through a series of events, the Woman’s Club will raise money, collect donations, and build awareness for Laura’s House within the South Orange County communities of Dana Point, Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente and beyond.
LADERA RANCH, Calif., August 26, 2011 – The support that Laura’s House receives from local community groups and organizations is integral to its mission to change the social beliefs, attitudes and the behaviors that perpetuate domestic violence while creating a safe place in which to empower individuals and families affected by abuse. Laura’s House is pleased to announce today, that it has teamed up with the Dana Point Woman’s Club in alignment with the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs and their National Signature Project: “Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention,” to shine a light on domestic violence, and build greater awareness for the programs and services that it provides to the greater Orange County community, and beyond.
On Sunday, August 21, the Dana Point Woman’s Club held its first event for Laura’s House at Stella’s Italian Restaurant located inside the Monarch Bay Plaza in Dana Point. Club members and their guests from Dana Point, Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente and other South Orange County communities were in attendance. During the event, the club collected toiletries and other necessities for the families residing in the Laura’s House emergency shelter including toothpaste, body washes and shampoos, combs and brushes, baby wipes, pacifiers, markers, crayons, Play Doh, juice boxes and gift cards. The total values of cash donations that will be made to Laura’s House is $150 from the event, with an additional $225 in pledges for a total donation of $375. Additionally, two larges bags and a basket of toiletries and other items were collected during the event for Laura’s House.
[Jacqueline McElroy, DPWC Recording Secretary and Historian; Charlie Capozzoli, Olympian, Author, Publisher; Mary Young, DPWC Corresponding Secretary]
“The Dana Point Woman’s Club is very excited to be partnering with Laura’s House to build awareness for the prevalence of domestic violence in our community, and highlight the terrific resources that are available to the community through this fantastic organization,” said Jacqueline McElroy, Recording Secretary and Historian for the Dana Point Woman’s Club, and San Clemente resident. “We chose Laura’s House as the beneficiary of our signature project due to the organization’s stellar reputation within the community, and at the recommendation of several of our members who had heard such wonderful things about the programs and services that they provide to families who are affected by domestic violence.”
During the coming months, the Dana Point Woman’s Club will be hosting several events benefiting Laura’s House including:
- September Monthly Meeting: On Thursday, September 1 at 11:30 a.m. the group will gather at Ristorante Ferrantelli located at 25001 Dana Point Harbor Drive. During the event, they will collect monetary donations, payable directly to Laura’s House, gently used men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, shoes and accessories for Laura’s House. All donations are tax deductible and a receipt will be given upon drop-off.
- October Monthly Meeting: On Thursday, October 6 at 11:30 am, the group will gather at Savannah Chop House located at 32441 Golden Lantern in Laguna Niguel. Margaret Bayston, CEO/Executive Director and Andrea McCallister, Director of Development and Communications for Laura’s House will be the guest speakers, and donations of gently used men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, shoes and accessories, along with monetary donations, payable directly to Laura’s House. All donations are tax deductible and a receipt will be given upon drop-off.
[Margaret Bayston, CEO and Executive Director, Laura's House; Joan Marie Kerr, DPWC) Parliamentarian; Mary Young, DPWC Corresponding Secretary; Jacqueline McElroy, DPWC Recording Secretary and Historian; Dot Hammer, DPWC Ways & Means Vice President; Peggy Byrns, DPWC 2nd Vice President; Nancy Booker, DPWC President]
To RSVP for these events, as well as future fundraising events for Laura’s House, please e-mail the Dana Point Woman’s Club at danapointwomansclub@gmail.com.
“We are delighted that the Dana Point Woman’s Club has chosen to join Laura’s House in its efforts to ‘end the silence’ of domestic violence’, and we are especially pleased to add these smart and energetic women as community ambassadors for our organization,” said Margaret Bayston, CEO and Executive Director, Laura’s House.
More information on the programs and services offered by Laura’s House is available at www.laurashouse.org. For more details on the Dana Point Woman’s Club and the General Federation of Women’s clubs please visit www.gfwc.org.
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.
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