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Resource Report - 17 Hope Alliance · Resource Report

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Hello and welcome to Resource Report, where we
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share with you important information about local
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nonprofits and resource organizations that support
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the community we share, produced by Pathways
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to Agency. I am your host, Rainmaker. Today's
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guest is Kristine Camenzind, Executive Director
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of Hope Alliance in Centralia. Here's Kris.
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I am here with Kristine Camenzind at Hope Alliance
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in downtown Centralia. How are you doing, Kristine?
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I'm really well. How are you? I'm quite well.
1:02
So can you introduce yourself, your position,
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and how did you come to be here at Hope Alliance?
1:09
So my name Kris Camenzind. I'm the executive
1:12
director of Hope Alliance. And I've been at Hope
1:15
Alliance as the director for over seven years.
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I previously worked at a domestic violence sexual
1:22
assault agency in Pacific County for 16 years.
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I started as a volunteer in 1999 and in the following
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year I became a domestic violence sexual assault
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advocate for eight years and then after being
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an advocate I became the executive director at
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Crisis Support Network and after spending many
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years there I hit a wall and burnt out and quit
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the job. And I became a flight attendant for
1:52
a couple of years. And then knowing that this
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anti -violence movement work is in my blood,
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I knew I was going to get back into the DV movement
2:05
at some point. And this job opened up and I landed
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here. Well, you've been here a minute, quite
2:13
a while, so it's obviously very fulfilling for
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you. Yes, you could say that. There are good
2:19
days and bad days. And that's what makes it an
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adventure. Yes, it's when my staff get frustrated,
2:27
I always say, just remember you're not working
2:30
in a cubicle and having the same thing happen
2:32
day after day because every day is different.
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Every day is a different day. Every day, yes,
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absolutely. The day -to -day struggles. Yeah.
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So what is Hope Alliance do? So Hope Alliance
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is Lewis County's accredited domestic violence
2:50
and sexual assault agency. We are 24 -7. We operate
2:56
a domestic violence shelter. We provide legal
2:59
medical systems advocacy. At times we have support
3:04
group. We respond to the hospitals for sexual
3:07
assault calls and for strangulation. We're at
3:11
court on Mondays with clients seeking the legal
3:15
system for protection orders. And we are very
3:20
survivor -centered focused. Like if we have somebody
3:25
that comes in and has an idea of they want to
3:28
move somewhere else, we talk about the pros and
3:31
cons and come up with options to help support
3:34
their decision. So what about your programs?
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What programs do we have? We have the domestic
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violence, sexual assault. Up until recently,
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we had a HUD housing grant that ended. That was
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$200 ,000 a year. We have consolidated housing
3:57
grant, which is kind of on hold right now. We
4:01
have a stop grant. which is a grant meant to
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have partners that work with victims of domestic
4:11
violence, such as law enforcement prosecution,
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to collaborate and best serve victims of domestic
4:20
violence or sexual assault. We have a legal advocacy
4:25
contract. That's it. That's it? That's pretty
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comprehensive, but I know that there's a lot
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more to it than just that. What are the specific
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criteria for people coming to you? Do you just
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see anybody that's coming in with domestic violence
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or sexual assault, or are there certain demographics
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or parameters? No, there are no restrictions.
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However, when I first started, staff was told
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to believe anybody that comes to the door believe
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what they tell you that was taken to an extreme
5:02
because perpetrators were coming in posing as
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victims of domestic violence using it as a manipulative
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tactic and so now we ask questions trying to
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screen people in instead of out and our our clientele
5:20
is predominantly women we have we we do serve
5:24
men but the majority of victims of domestic violence
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have been proven to be women and children. It
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can be domestic violence that is happening currently
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where they're currently living in a situation
5:39
with domestic violence. They may have just fled.
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They might be coming in from another state or
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another county. It could be somebody who has
5:47
some PTSD of having domestic violence or sexual
5:52
assault in years past. Need to talk to somebody.
5:57
And, and so we don't really have any, um, we
6:01
won't serve you unless we screen you as a perpetrator.
6:06
Then, then we don't serve them. That's fair.
6:10
Yes. Yeah. Or got around. It was an easy place.
6:14
Yeah. You just gotta, you gotta like, you know,
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raise the bar a little bit. Okay. That makes
6:21
sense. And then what kind of legal help do y
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'all offer? So we used to, up until a couple
6:28
of months ago, have a legal clinic with volunteer
6:31
attorneys out of Thurston County Volunteer Legal
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Aid. And they used to come to our office two
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times a month. There were three to four attorneys
6:45
who would see our clients. We'd screen them in
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and they were ongoing clients of ours that were
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needing some assistance for some free legal advice.
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That grant ended about six weeks ago. So we have
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a couple of the prior staff that are still interested
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in volunteering. So we're working on hopefully
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creating some continuance of that program because
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that was the best program. I've ever worked with
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in my 20 -some years of experience, having these
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attorneys here filling out the paperwork, telling
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them what their options were, because we cannot
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give legal advice. So we're hoping to get something
7:31
picked back up for legal aid, but as of right
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now, we don't have anything, but we can help
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with protection orders. What would it take for
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you to get that assistance back? Well, we were
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one of three partners, Turning Point in Mason
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County and Safe Place in Thurston County. We
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were the recipients of this program, and the
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grant was not renewed on the state level. And
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so to get it back in full force like it was,
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we would have to apply for the grant all over
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again. I know that time has passed, but maybe
8:14
in the upcoming year? So what happened with that
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anyway? Because I've interviewed Safe Place,
8:20
actually, and they are still having their legal
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help. So was there something because of the counties
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or what happened? No, I don't think it was anything
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with the counties. It might be somewhat of a
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similar program that they're using, but probably
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not the same grant. But a lot of the attorneys
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that came, To our office to provide assistance.
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We're from Thurston County, so they might have
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just continued in a different direction, but
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kind of on the same path. Okay. Okay. I think
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that's helpful to understand for people. Yeah.
8:59
And then what about your emergency shelter? So
9:04
our emergency shelter is independent living.
9:08
We're a little unique in the way we don't have
9:10
a staff at shelter. We have staff that check
9:13
in on the shelter. When I started at this program,
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we had three advocates at the shelter every day,
9:19
all day. It was like, these women do not need
9:22
to be babysat. They just need a safe place to
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stay. And sometimes there are some barriers that
9:30
make it difficult for women to live on their
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own. Like they may not have ever had to cook.
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They need help understanding nutrition for their
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children. We just don't microwave dinners. So
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we encompass all facets of well -being with our
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residents and shelter on a case -by -case basis.
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But for the most part, our shelter residents
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do a really great job. We help them get hooked
10:02
into. benefits that are needed. We look after
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their legal needs. We help them try to find housing
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that's affordable and sustainable. Up until last
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year, we had an 89 % success rate of getting
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women out of our shelter into affordable and
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sustainable housing. So we're really good at
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that. Then the housing market, the availability
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took a difficult turn and the prices increased
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greatly. But we have, it's a contract through
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DSHS, and we have six separate bedrooms where
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people can lock their door, keep their things
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safe in the bedroom, and then there's communal
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living room, kitchen, bathrooms. Okay. And what
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is the safety on the site? We've never had an
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issue. Not an issue. And I think the neighbors
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know that it's a shelter. And we've had a couple
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times where the neighbors have called with voicing
11:09
their concerns about maybe something happening
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up at the shelter. And we're quick to respond.
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If something is going on up at the shelter, we
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have staff that live very close by that respond
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promptly to assess what's happening. That's good.
11:28
Neighbors helping neighbors. That's what it's
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about. Yeah. How big is the shelter facility?
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Like how many spaces? There are six bedrooms.
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You can sleep 15 individuals. Okay. So is it
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like a room with like bunks? One room has a double
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and a couple. twins for a mom and maybe a couple
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of kids and then we have a bigger room that's
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for a bigger family um we have just single a
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couple of single rooms where it's just maybe
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a mom or a woman and perhaps maybe a small child
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where we can bring in a little mattress for the
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child um or a crib type that's like a communal
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kitchen communal kitchen communal kitchen communal
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bathrooms and communal living room and family
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room. Okay. So you have your... It's a beautiful,
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it's a beautiful place. Yep. And it's really
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fun to watch some of the women that go in there
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that leave best friends and they come back to
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our office and, you know, you can see the bond
12:44
that they've created over time and they've continued
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to be friends and support each other. It's a
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nice thing. But on the flip side, we also have,
12:53
you know, sometimes not everybody gets along
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so well. And so we always have to remind people,
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you know, we're all here for the same reason,
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and you need to worry about you and not what
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your neighbor's doing. What if they have a pet?
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Do you all let them come in with their dog or
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their cat? So currently we allow service animals.
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Okay. We do not allow pets, family pets. And
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again, it's all case by case. I mean, there may
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be a case where this person has like a dog that
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will protect that woman with their life. You
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do not want to part the person from the dog.
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Right. But we also have to be worried about other
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residents. So what we typically do is ask, is
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there somebody that the pet can stay with? Yeah.
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And we'll get you reunited. Okay. Now, I know
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the majority of your clients are women, but what
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do you do if you have a male client and that
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needs shelter? Do you have a separate space?
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We do not. We refer them to a shelter, but I
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can't say where. That's for men. And on occasion,
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we put them in a hotel. Okay. That's really good
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that you have that accommodation. And my heart
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goes out to these men because there's such a
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stigma, you know? Oh, yeah. And that can make
14:27
it really difficult for men to receive help as
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well. Correct. Yes, I agree with you. Yeah. So
14:41
what about your, how do you handle safety planning?
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So it's individualized. We cover the basics of,
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you know, be aware of your surroundings. Don't
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take the same route home that you always do.
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It's really on a case -by -case basis. And some
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of the cases are a lot more extreme than other
15:05
cases. So it just depends on the situation and
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who's safety are we worried about? Are there
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children involved or is your mother close by?
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Because if an abuser can't get to his partner
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that he's harassing or hurting, the next place
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he usually goes is to the mother. So it might
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entail doing safety planning with... people outside,
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I mean, in her circle as well as for her and
15:44
her children. And it might be safety planning
15:48
individually with each child. I mean, we don't
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do it obviously with little children, but if
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you're going to high school and you drive a car
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and maybe your dad or your stepdad, you know,
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it's all just very individualized. case by case
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and that's an illustration of of how there's
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a difference with how you take anyone versus
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safe place because they because of their funding
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there's there's a There's a strict line. It can
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only be partners. It can't be like family members.
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Oh, intimate partner. Yeah. Ours is intimate
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partner as well. Yeah. Or a shelter. Y 'all are
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pretty much, if you're being sexually harassed
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or assaulted or someone's being domestically
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violent with you, it doesn't matter who it is.
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You're able to help them. Yes. That's an important
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distinction. They don't get the first priority,
16:43
though. Intimate partner violence is our first
16:47
priority, but if somebody comes to us and has
16:52
a safety issue and needs to ask questions about
16:55
their safety and we have the ability to help
16:59
them, of course we'll help them. That's good
17:03
to know. What about your support groups? So we
17:07
do have a Spanish speaking support group right
17:10
now. We've had a difficult time getting support
17:13
group going again after COVID, especially because
17:18
everybody knows everybody. So sometimes it makes
17:22
it really awkward for... Difficult to be totally
17:25
confidential. Yeah. People will talk. Right.
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Or you might be neighbors or your brother's ex
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-girlfriend might be in the group. So it's, you
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know, the confidentiality is sometimes a deal
17:40
breaker. And they're not remote. They're in person.
17:46
Okay. They were in person. Right now, our funding's
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been cut greatly. So that's probably something
17:54
that we won't be pursuing in the future. In the
17:57
near future, this fiscal year. I want to jump
18:03
over to that for a minute, actually, since you
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mentioned your funding being cut. There was an
18:09
article that I came across in the Chronicle,
18:15
I think, about how it was looking like y 'all
18:18
were going to be closing in like in October.
18:22
But how are you doing with that now? Not very
18:26
well right at the moment. We've lost over half
18:30
of our budget compared to last year. So our budget
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is currently at $550 ,000 to operate 24 -7 while
18:43
maintaining the office and our shelter. So it's
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just really not sustainable. Right now, we're
18:51
kind of playing around with numbers and trying
18:53
to see if we can maybe move some of the requirements
19:01
from our contracts. Maybe we don't have to be
19:04
24 -7. But right now, we're in the most... I'm
19:08
always a very optimistic person. This is the
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first time I feel the doom and gloom of... So
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in fiscal year 23 -24, We had $1 .2 million.
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Last year, our annual budget was $1 ,050 ,000,
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and currently it's at $585 ,000. So a lot of
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the funding that we've lost is funding that we
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use to help clients' client needs. It might be
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first and last month's rent for... an apartment.
19:45
It might be helping her buy a couple of new tires
19:48
because she can't get to work and she can't get
19:51
to work. She can't pay for daycare, you know,
19:53
just the cycle that might be having somebody
19:58
install some cameras. So we're unable to do any
20:01
of that right now until we get a further grasp
20:06
on where we're really at financially. Are you
20:10
planning any fundraising events at all coming
20:13
up? So there's a big, this is a big topic in
20:16
our community. At the end of, I want to say it
20:20
was in April last year, we typically have a walk
20:24
a mile in their shoes fundraiser and a golf tournament.
20:28
And we decided at that time not to have fundraisers
20:32
because we don't bring enough money in from those
20:36
fundraisers that it would keep us going. If it
20:40
costs too much, just run the event. Yes. So like
20:44
for the golf tournament, I think we made like
20:48
$12 ,000, $15 ,000. That's not going to help
20:53
us get through the next month. It would be if
20:55
we were fully funded. That would be very helpful.
21:00
But we had a really hard time going out into
21:02
our community asking for sponsors and asking
21:06
for donations. when we didn't even know if we
21:09
were going to be open. It just seemed wrong for
21:13
us to go out and ask for funding when we didn't
21:17
know whether or not we were going to be open.
21:21
So we stated at that time that next year, if
21:26
we're still afloat, we'll have the golf tournament
21:28
and the walk -a -mile. At this present moment,
21:32
I don't know that we will. I don't know quite.
21:36
yet where we're at and the board is still looking
21:40
over different options so they'll probably have
21:46
a greater understanding of what's in store for
21:50
Hope Alliance in Lewis County in the next few
21:53
weeks I would imagine. Now I did have a call
21:56
today though from The Lewis County AUW women
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have been fantastic. So Lewis County is the American
22:04
Association of University Women. And they are
22:07
very proactive in Lewis County and in helping
22:11
Hope Alliance. So I had a call from one of their
22:15
members today asking if we were still taking
22:17
like card donations or monetary donations. Absolutely.
22:25
We use those smaller pots donations for, like,
22:29
gas cards. People who are having to drive over
22:32
from East Lewis County to here, you know, it's
22:35
over a two -hour drive point away. So that type
22:40
of donation or people mailing in $100 checks,
22:43
we are very frugal with that funding, and we
22:47
like to put gas cards or Safeway or Walmart cards
22:51
so that they can. by what is deemed needed. This
22:55
is also a very awkward time of year to not have
23:00
funding because we know school supplies are a
23:04
big issue for some of the families that we're
23:07
helping. So right now we're not really doing
23:09
a lot other than advocating for our clients.
23:14
We are unable to financially give them a hand
23:19
up. But private donations for smaller, great
23:24
chunks of money would be greatly appreciated.
23:27
And it goes directly to our clients. It doesn't
23:29
go into any of our operations at all. That's
23:34
good to know. There's also, I recently came across
23:41
another article in the Chronicle, how there are
23:45
a couple of Lewis County commissioners who are
23:47
seeking to reduce the funding towards homeless
23:52
individuals, would that indeed affect you? Yes.
23:57
So typically over the last several years, we've
24:00
received a grant from Lewis County, the Consolidated
24:05
Housing Grant. I want to say it's a two -year
24:08
grant, about $88 ,000 a year. And most of that
24:13
money goes towards rental assistance, eviction
24:16
prevention. which was great. Then in the middle
24:22
of June, I believe, I received a contract from
24:28
the county for $244 ,000 for CHG funding. I was
24:35
like, $244 ,000 for one year. It's like, oh my
24:39
God, this is a godsend. This is going to help
24:41
tie us over so that we can keep in operation.
24:44
They rescinded the contract. They hadn't signed
24:47
the contract. Then they sent the contract back
24:50
again. Again, it was $244 ,000 for one year.
24:53
They said, no, we're taking the offer back because
24:57
Lewis County has the option of receiving more
25:00
CHG funding through the Department of Commerce
25:04
at the state level. And from what I understand,
25:08
a couple of the commissioners are not wanting
25:11
to put more money into homelessness because they
25:13
think it attracts people to Lewis County. That's
25:16
incredibly wrong. That's very not true. That's
25:21
not how that works. I agree. And a lot of the
25:24
people that we help are homeless for fleeing
25:29
domestic violence and coming to our agency, but
25:32
we also have a high population of people that
25:36
are homeless that are from this area. People
25:39
are not coming here seeking services because
25:43
other... areas have more services than what lewis
25:47
county has and it but it just also happens that
25:49
we're on the i -5 corridor so right now i'm hoping
25:54
that the commissioners will approve the chg funding
25:58
because it also affects salvation army and housing
26:02
resource center yeah and i think the funding
26:06
that our agencies have received have made a huge
26:08
difference in The money that we're receiving
26:11
is preventing homelessness. So not receiving
26:15
the money is going to put more people out on
26:19
the street. And for me, it just seems like the
26:20
wrong thing to do. It seems inhumane and lack
26:25
of compassion because we're all not too far from
26:29
being homeless ourselves. Like one paycheck,
26:31
one disaster. We need some advocates to come
26:35
speak up. Yeah, come teach the commissioners
26:40
some facts. That's what we need. Like if I have
26:43
extra money or extra food, I'm more than happy
26:47
to give it to somebody in need. You know, I don't
26:50
need everything. I don't need the best of everything.
26:54
We're all in this together. We're all in this
26:55
together. So we're kind of waiting. We're on
26:59
a wait and hold with the commissioners. I don't
27:01
know that they're going to accept the additional
27:04
funding or... But I do know that if we get the
27:08
$88 ,000 a year, that's probably not going to
27:12
help tie us over with all of the other cuts that
27:16
we've had. Once we got that $244 ,000 contract
27:19
for a year, I was like, yes, thank you, thank
27:22
you. Because it really showed. I know that we
27:26
have some really good allies in Lewis County
27:28
government. I know that a lot of people want
27:32
us to succeed. to keep doing what we're doing
27:35
and that to me was like an olive branch of like
27:39
here we recognize you're facing severe budget
27:42
cuts hoping this ties you over and then for it
27:46
to be gone again was just pretty pretty gut -wrenching
27:50
it's gut -wrenching yeah not right now we don't
27:53
have any funding to help our women in shelter
27:56
secure housing which is the first time ever yeah
28:00
wow wow So when you're helping your sexual assault
28:13
victims, I know sometimes victims will end up
28:18
in the hospital for medical care. Do you meet
28:23
them there? Sure. You do? We do. Can you explain
28:26
about that? Yeah, so typically what happens is
28:29
the hospital will call us and say, we have a
28:35
sexual assault victim, and we go to the hospital.
28:39
The advocate on call or the advocate who's available
28:42
during the day. Go in and introduce ourselves
28:45
and explain what we do. And we give the option.
28:49
We don't have to be here if you don't want us
28:50
here. We don't have to be in the room with you.
28:53
It's very survivor -led. Some victims want us
28:58
to stay in the room with them during the sexual
29:01
assault exam. Others don't. We talk about the
29:06
legal. We go legal. Safety planning. Sometimes
29:12
they don't have a place to go to, so we make
29:14
arrangements to take them somewhere else or make
29:18
sure they just don't end up on the street. And
29:21
then we usually wait a day or two, depending
29:24
on the case. Again, it's case -specific of reaching
29:28
out to them and checking in on them. And then
29:33
we go to law enforcement and prosecution interviews.
29:39
Because it's a law that a victim can have an
29:42
advocate present with them. It can be very emotionally
29:46
triggering to be dealing with the police when
29:50
you're in a situation like that. Yes, especially
29:53
if they don't really understand what it's like
29:56
to be sexually assaulted. And then if the case
30:00
moves forward, we're with the victim throughout
30:05
the whole. But more than that, we try to provide
30:11
a support for going back to work, maybe going
30:14
back to wherever it happened or, you know, facing
30:19
the trauma. And we also provide advocacy for
30:22
the secondary trauma. So if there are kids involved
30:26
whose mom has been raped or parents, we provide
30:31
secondary advocacy for them as well. Explain
30:36
to them what might be going through the mind
30:39
of the victim and how to approach it and how
30:41
to respond and react to what they can do to support
30:45
their loved one. That's really helpful. When
30:49
you were talking just now about supporting victims
30:53
for returning to work, how do you do that? Is
30:58
that like having someone come with you to work?
31:05
The victim was really not ready to go back to
31:09
work. And there are some laws that can protect
31:14
a victim from going back to work. And so usually
31:17
if we have a conversation with their employer
31:20
or without disclosing exactly what happened,
31:25
that helps. It's just having somebody that is
31:29
not them, helping them finagle the red tape of...
31:34
maintaining and keeping a job. An outside perspective,
31:39
a non -biased kind of view can, unfortunately,
31:43
that this is the case, but it does help with
31:46
validity. Yes. There's one specific place in
31:52
Lewis County where we've helped a few women who've
31:55
been assaulted, not at the workplace, but in
31:59
private life afterward. The one I remember is
32:03
sending a letter to, she'd asked me if to write
32:07
a letter to the supervisor explaining the barriers
32:11
of going back full time. And so I had contact
32:15
with the supervisor and then following two other
32:18
clients who had been sexually assaulted had reported
32:21
back that their supervisors were very understanding.
32:25
So it just took that one time for the supervisor
32:28
to understand some of the... the barriers and
32:32
obstacles that women have of going back to work,
32:34
or men. I mean, we definitely have helped male
32:38
rape victims. That's comforting. That's very
32:42
comforting to know that. And then digital safety.
32:47
Explain your digital safety. What is that? So
32:51
we have a digital expert, digital safety expert
32:55
in the office about how to know if you're being
33:02
tracked but there are lots of different ways
33:05
to be tracked than when I first started in this
33:07
work trackers on cars on your cell phone email
33:12
so advocates are very well trained by this other
33:15
advocate about technology and safety that's about
33:21
all I have on that So there's a lot of really
33:29
tricky little things to navigate with all of
33:31
that. And you just don't even know how they're
33:35
finding you. Right. Or impersonating to be somebody
33:39
else. Yeah. And then with the AI now, they can
33:43
steal your voice. Yes. And pretend to be you.
33:47
Or put your face on pictures that are on bodies
33:51
that aren't you. There's a lot of scary stuff.
33:53
There's very scary stuff. I think it's a very
33:56
frightening time to be a child. Yeah. And then,
34:07
so y 'all have different resources on your website
34:11
as well, different agencies listed. Yeah, I like
34:16
to pride ourselves on that we're a community
34:19
player and are happy to collaborate with other
34:23
agencies. Some relations have flourished and
34:27
others take a little more, a little more work,
34:30
but I mean. Keep going. Yeah. But I mean, we
34:35
always go in, what is it called? Full faith that
34:39
they're going to want to help. And you know,
34:41
it goes back to like, I think most people aren't
34:44
good. I really do. They just don't know what
34:47
to do until you ask them. And y 'all work with
34:50
the Gather Church. Yes, we love Gather. Yeah.
34:53
Good people. Good people. Yeah. Cole and Patty
34:56
and all of their different offers that they do
35:02
to help individuals is really, they are good
35:05
people. I'm working on getting an interview with
35:07
them as well. Oh, you are? I am. What other organizations
35:12
do you work with? We work with Salvation Army,
35:16
Parents as Teachers, Housing Resource Center.
35:21
One thing I forgot to mention is we have an advocate
35:24
in the CSO. What's the CSO? The Community Service
35:28
Office. So if somebody is applying for TANF and
35:31
they say that they are experiencing domestic
35:34
violence, they're hooked up with an advocate.
35:36
And the advocate can kind of tap the brakes on
35:39
some of the state requirements of having to go
35:41
out and look for a job right away. We may need
35:45
to focus on other safety issues before we send
35:48
you out into the workplace. trying to find a
35:51
job. So we have a good relationship with our
35:54
local CSO office. And we have a lot of churches
35:58
around here too that are always willing to step
36:02
up and help with different options, meeting places,
36:06
donations. You know, I would say that there's
36:10
a lot of great people in Lewis County. What is
36:20
your process for helping someone? I would imagine
36:23
it's individualized, but is there an intake form
36:26
or how do you screen them? Tell me all about
36:31
it. So if somebody calls our office, they might
36:35
be in crisis. They may not be in crisis. They
36:38
might be calling because they fled a domestic
36:41
violence situation and they're wondering what
36:43
resources are here. So it is really case by case,
36:46
but first and foremost, One of our first questions
36:50
is, are you safe right now? And sometimes the
36:53
answer is no, I'm not. I'm hiding in a closet.
36:56
Or he's out in the car and I know he's going
37:00
to be really mad when he comes in. So we talk
37:02
about, you know, do you want to call 911? Do
37:07
you want us to call 911? So there's that one
37:11
option. And others might be where the abuse happened
37:16
last night. Or it's never happened before and
37:19
this was the first time and I can't believe this
37:22
is it. Or it could be that we've been married
37:24
50 years and I've had it with the domestic violence.
37:27
So it's really case by case. But first and foremost
37:31
is are you safe? Do you have a place to stay
37:34
that is safe? Children, are you working? Where
37:39
does he work? We want to know if he has access.
37:42
Does he have access to weapons? Does he know
37:45
that you're reaching out for help? Bank accounts,
37:49
do you have a joint account, separate account?
37:53
So it's really case by case, but typically they
37:56
come in. for an intake. And an intake is just
38:02
basic information that the state requires that
38:04
we ask. And it's more of conversation than checking
38:08
the boxes of you have this, you have this, you
38:11
have this. We keep very minimal information in
38:13
our files in the event that they're subpoenaed.
38:16
So we get the name and address. We have one form,
38:21
I think. We don't talk to any... Anybody relating
38:25
to their case without a release of information.
38:28
And it's got to be pretty specific. Somebody
38:30
gives me permission to talk to China's police
38:33
department. It's pretty specific about what I'm
38:36
going to talk. We're not going to talk about
38:38
the color of the shoes and the shoelaces. I mean,
38:41
it's specific to the case. We have a form that's
38:46
called in the event of my death. And this is
38:49
a sobering form where. We remind our clients
38:55
that in the event you mysteriously end up dead
38:58
or missing, we are going to keep your confidentiality
39:02
confidential unless you sign this form because
39:06
we give the statistics of how many people are
39:10
affected by domestic violence. And if you give
39:13
us permission to talk to law enforcement, the
39:15
prosecutors, maybe a family member, then we can
39:18
tell them more information of our concerns gained
39:23
a charge and a conviction. That form usually
39:27
upsets people. Understandably, but it is important
39:32
to address. Very important, yes. So the intake
39:36
is more of a conversation versus checking the
39:40
boxes. Yeah. And I think the more experience
39:44
you have as an advocate, the better you will
39:46
be. better you are at it. If we have new advocates,
39:48
we have the new advocates sit in with more experienced
39:52
advocates to learn different styles and approaches.
39:57
If we have somebody that comes in and doesn't
40:03
necessarily screen in, we don't shoot them out
40:06
the door. We hook them into other possibility,
40:09
other possible resources in the community or
40:13
maybe closer to their area. where they may live
40:17
so it just really depends on so individualized
40:21
that's how it's always a different day yeah for
40:24
sure yeah when you're helping someone uh is there
40:37
a requirement for being clean of drug drug -free
40:41
or at least sober in that moment? What is the
40:46
situation with that? So if somebody comes into
40:50
our shelter, we ask that they do not use alcohol
40:54
or any substance while in the shelter. Sometimes
40:58
during the intake, they may disclose that they
41:02
have a chemical dependency issue. And so we address
41:05
that and hook them into resources. We want them
41:09
to address the chemical dependency, and then
41:13
we can talk about shelter. I can say in all of
41:17
the years I've been doing this, there may have
41:20
been a total of four or five times we've had
41:22
to ask somebody to leave because they've broken
41:26
that rule. But we understand it's a coping mechanism,
41:30
and sometimes they become addicted because their
41:34
partner forced them to either drink or take drugs.
41:40
So we try to do it so that everybody in our shelter
41:44
can be safe. Try to find them resources for dependency
41:50
issues. But no, drugs and alcohol are not allowed
41:53
in the shelter. So while someone doesn't necessarily
41:57
have to be clean coming in, they need to at least
42:01
be sober for the intake. Is that right? Correct.
42:09
And then you just continue by not using while
42:12
receiving services. Okay. That's important to
42:18
clarify your people. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. How
42:29
can people get involved? Do y 'all have... Are
42:33
y 'all hiring? People can volunteer? So we are
42:37
currently not hiring. We're worried about staying
42:40
open right now. In fact, we've been on a kind
42:44
of a hiring hold for quite some time. We could
42:49
use double the staff that we have. So definitely
42:53
taking volunteers. So we aren't taking volunteers
42:56
at this time. We've had a... We have people that
42:59
want to volunteer, but it takes a dedicated staff
43:03
to just do the volunteers. We haven't gotten
43:06
to a place you're in training. Training them
43:09
to overseeing what they're, because there's so
43:12
many different caveats with domestic violence.
43:15
Like, are you married? Do you have children?
43:17
Are they on the birth certificate? I'm a big
43:20
believer it takes an advocate two years of being
43:22
here full time before they can go out on their
43:24
own confidently knowing that they're not going
43:27
to. give bad advice or steer somebody in the
43:32
wrong direction. My hope is that at some point
43:38
we'll get a decent amount of funding where we
43:41
can build up our volunteer pool and have volunteers
43:47
that go to events maybe sit in in court to help
43:51
streamline the cases. When we go to courts on
43:55
Mondays, we typically have on average, about
43:58
25 clients with protection orders. So it's an
44:02
all -day, three -day person ordeal. So volunteers,
44:07
not yet, but if we get more funding, definitely.
44:11
And also, volunteers would also need to learn
44:17
how to deal with situations, like what if you
44:22
have... someone who comes in to harass because
44:25
they think there's someone here that they're
44:28
after right you have to um and just the adrenaline
44:33
and having a day full of adrenaline and then
44:35
going home to sleep at night is sometimes this
44:38
work is very triggering for people who come into
44:41
work here or volunteer and it becomes more triggering
44:45
than they initially thought um we I would say
44:51
probably at least once a month we go home early
44:54
or we're on some sort of safety plan because
44:57
we have had some threats or veiled threats at
45:02
our office or towards advocates or staff. Oh
45:05
my goodness. That's scary. Yes, it is. We had
45:10
one time a perpetrator follow an advocate home.
45:14
So, I mean, we just have to be really... Aware
45:17
of our surroundings all the time. For sure. Have
45:28
y 'all yet had to deal with ice? We've had clients
45:35
who've had to deal with ice, yes. I don't know
45:38
if you know that Lewis County just became an
45:40
unsanctuary county. I did not know that. They
45:45
have a strong... Proud Boys presence here. So
45:50
we've always put on Dia La Independencia. We're
45:53
not putting that on this year. It's an event
45:56
in September. It's open to the public. And we
46:00
usually have about 400 participants. We're not
46:04
having it this year because, you know, I think
46:06
it was in 20, might have been 2019, we had concerns
46:10
about raids. I think this was after the Trump
46:14
election. We were worried about... Right before
46:17
COVID. Right before COVID. And we were talking
46:20
about what are we going to do if they come to
46:23
the event? We thought we're just going to provide
46:25
one big human chain circle around people, but
46:29
not putting people in harm's way. We do do a
46:33
lot of work with immigrants working on their
46:37
status. We work a lot with Northwest Integrated
46:42
Rights Project. We've had one husband who was
46:49
deported. The neighbors overheard this couple
46:54
fighting, and she said it wasn't a physical fight,
46:57
but they took him, and she didn't have the truck
47:02
keys. They don't know where he was. Two little
47:06
kids. Wow. Yeah. That's scary. It's very scary.
47:17
What kind of trainings do y 'all provide? We
47:21
haven't provided any training since COVID. Oh,
47:24
really? We haven't. I mean, we've gone to different
47:27
agencies who've asked for specific training to
47:31
their staff, but trainings you mean to the public?
47:35
Yeah. Well, we have darkness to light. I don't
47:38
know if you've heard of that. No, I haven't.
47:40
So darkness to light is how to respond if somebody
47:44
has disclosed that they've been sexually assaulted.
47:48
We have that in English and in Spanish. I'm trying
47:53
to think of what other... We could ask to speak
47:57
at different businesses or different social events.
48:03
And we... Typically give an overview and then
48:06
get questions like, what do you do if, what do
48:08
you do if? But we haven't really put on any specific
48:12
trainings. We've spoken to Centralia Police Department
48:17
a couple of times. Are y 'all mandated reporters?
48:27
We're mandated reporters, correct. Can you explain
48:30
a little bit more about... the specifics around
48:34
that. So if we know of a child who's being abused
48:39
or neglected, we're mandated to call CPS if officials
48:46
haven't already been notified. If they have not
48:48
already been notified. That's a key point. Well,
48:53
I mean, if we don't know anybody's been notified,
48:56
do we definitely need to make a CPS referral?
48:58
But I don't really want to. We have not a great
49:10
response from CPS here. We have CPS who still
49:13
take women or threaten women. If you don't leave
49:16
him, we're going to take your children away.
49:18
Wow. Not following the protocol. I feel like
49:23
it's important to clarify about that and warn
49:27
people about navigating CPS and mandated reporting.
49:32
I have myself been in a situation where cps was
49:38
already involved it was something that happened
49:40
several years ago it's all been over with and
49:45
then um you know here we are again unnecessarily
49:51
someone called unnecessarily this is being re
49:55
-opened back up again why am i being put through
50:00
this just because i mentioned a thing happened
50:03
a long time ago but it was already dealt with
50:06
And a lot of the time, it's about the mandated
50:09
reporter's judgment themselves, their call. And
50:14
some people adhere to the letter of the law.
50:17
Some people are understanding. And then you have,
50:21
depends on who you get at CPS. It's a mixed bag,
50:25
right? And so... So if Law Enforcement's been
50:30
involved, like at a DB call, and they've been
50:33
told the same thing, That the client has told
50:36
us? Law enforcement is that they have the jurisdiction
50:40
to remove a child, right? Hospitals, medical
50:44
staff, and law enforcement. So if law enforcement
50:47
saw this and didn't intervene... There's nobody
50:51
else that can advocate then. I mean, if the woman's
50:56
doing what she can to protect her children, like,
50:58
we're going with that. Right. We're not calling
51:01
to make it punitive for her. Sure. Unless, of
51:06
course, it's just as egregious like sexual. Again,
51:09
using your best judgment. You have to use your
51:12
best judgment and you want to err on the side
51:14
of caution, but also make sure that you're not
51:18
causing undue hardships and difficulties as well.
51:26
Correct. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. I know. Thank
51:31
you for. Trying to engage that question with
51:34
me is just a really important question. It really
51:37
is upsetting to me. We had a family years ago
51:43
here, maybe when I first started, whose child
51:47
was put into CPS care. CPS put the child in protective
51:51
custody. That's the word I'm looking for, protective
51:53
custody. And the child was put in a motel or
51:59
a hotel in Vancouver. had to share a room with
52:03
another kid, and the chaperones were in the hallways
52:08
during the nighttime. That's where we're at?
52:12
Like, that can't be better than being with a
52:16
parent. Right. I think that there's a lot of
52:20
corruption. Well, and there's a protocol. DSHS
52:24
wrote a protocol for it. I did do a training
52:28
to the CPS workers, actually, about this protocol.
52:31
Yeah. If children are involved in domestic violence,
52:35
what you're supposed to be doing. None of them
52:38
had ever heard of the protocol. Oh my goodness.
52:41
Yeah. Their training is sorely lacking at CPS.
52:46
I think they have a hard time retaining employees,
52:49
too. It's hard work. It's hard work, right? The
52:53
stuff they must see and hear has got to be horrible.
53:03
Is there anything else you would like to share?
53:07
What could I like to share is if you see somebody
53:12
that you think is maybe being abused in public,
53:17
say something, speak out, call the police. Because
53:22
a lot of times I think people want to just mind
53:24
their own business or they're concerned, but
53:27
they don't know what to do. And if an abuser
53:30
is treating his victim in public like that, the
53:35
way he treats her in private is a lot more dangerous,
53:42
I would guess I'd say. So if you see something,
53:46
say something, try to intervene. Maybe intervene
53:50
physically, but, hey, are you okay? Do you need
53:55
me to call the police? Ask the victim questions.
53:58
I do that all the time. It drives my husband
54:00
crazy when we go places. But it's surprising
54:04
about how many times people say, yes, I need
54:06
some help. I think that's really important for
54:10
people to know because, again, I think most people
54:12
are good and most people want to help and most
54:15
people want people to thrive. Just pay closer
54:21
attention and don't be afraid to intervene. On
54:28
a safe level. I guess that's. And send us your
54:33
money. With lots of commas please. Thank you
54:37
so much. Christine for your time. I appreciate
54:41
you very much. And I appreciate the work that
54:43
you're doing. Thank you for asking me. Yeah.
54:48
We want to make sure that everybody knows. That
54:51
you're here in Lewis County for them. Correct.
54:54
We are. Free and confidential. Wonderful. Thank
55:00
you. Thank you. If you are experiencing domestic
55:11
violence or sexual assault and need help, or
55:14
if you would like to support this important organization,
55:17
you can contact Chris and her team by visiting
55:20
www .hopealliancelc .org or by calling 360 -748
55:29
-6601. That's it for today's resource report
55:43
produced by Pathways to Agency. At Pathways to
55:47
Agency, we are driven by the belief that everyone
55:50
should have the tools and support to achieve
55:52
their goals and thrive in their communities.
55:55
Our mission is to bridge the gaps in understanding,
55:59
accessibility, and trust by connecting individuals
56:02
to resources and sharing information and processes
56:06
that can lead to personal and community growth.
56:10
Resource Report offers information about existing
56:13
and emerging nonprofits and resource organizations.
56:17
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56:22
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56:25
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