Category: Newsletter

Please read our March Newsletter!

What a year!  Read our December 2014 Newsletter!

It is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  Wear a purple ribbon and read our October 2014 Newsletter.

Family Justice Community News By Susun Kim, Executive Director (September 2014) “Just want to get your week off to a good start! A client who came to the Center in 2011 came back in on Friday to get information for a friend. So great to know that she felt confident enough in our services to rely on us to help her friend in crisis. Keep up the good work everyone!” Elizabeth Wilmerding (Family Justice Center super-staff) Our Family Justice Center is a one-stop service center for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse and human trafficking. We bring law enforcement, public and non-profit service providers, under one roof, to provide holistic services to survivors and their families. Because our services are provided under one roof, our clients get safer, sooner. After dealing with immediate crisis, we stay connected with our clients to provide long term safety and community building support. We offer cooking classes, money management workshops and other life enrichment programs. We are constantly looking for partners to work together to improve the health and safety of our community. Building update On July 29, 2014, the Richmond City Council approved the contract with Turner Group to remodel the Family Justice Center’s new home on 24th Street, and construction began shortly thereafter. I want to acknowledge Craig Murray, Development Project Manager II, Engineering Department, City of Richmond, for his professional management of the project. He has been a key partner through the whole process, patiently explaining everything to me while orchestrating disparate moving pieces. If everything goes well, we will pack up our growing files, binders and materials in February 2015 and move to our new home.   Partner Spotlight: Narika We can hardly wait till we move to our 7,000 square foot center so that we can bring more services and resources. One of our “currently off-site waiting to be on-site” partners is Narika. Narika started over 20 years ago as a helpline for abused South Asian women. Today, it promotes women’s independence and economic empowerment by helping domestic violence survivors with advocacy, support and education. Narika’s Self-Empowerment and Economic Development (SEED) program offers 12-weekends of instruction designed to foster economic independence and complements our Center’s WINGS (Women INspired to Grow and Succeed) program.   Cooking Matters- Success Brings Smiles We successfully completed our first series of Cooking Matter classes and are now enrolling for the second series, every Friday from October 10 to November 14, 2014, from 10 am to noon. We strive to support building a safe and healthy community and would welcome interested community members. Please call (510) 965-4949 to sign up as space is limited or click here for more information.       Etch Your Name on a Building Tile! Your name or business will be etched on tile to recognize your gift of $500 or more.  Donor Gift Tiles will be used as part of the wall facing Peace Plaza. Join the 100 Club! Be Among the First 100 Contributors! The 100 Club members will be recognized on our website and in publications. To see the list of 100 club members, click here. Please send a check in any amount payable to “Tides Center/WCCFJC” to The Family Justice Center, 1210 Hilltop Mall Road, Suite 110D, Richmond, CA 94806. Visit us at www.wccfjc.org or call (510) 965-4949 for more information.

Family Justice Community News By Susun Kim, Executive Director (July 2014)   In July, we started our first cooking classes at the Family Justice Center.  “Cooking  Matters” is a free series of bilingual cooking and nutrition workshops designed to  teach participants to shop smarter, make healthier choices and cook delicious  meals. Founded in 1993, Cooking Matters is a nationally renowned program working  to end childhood hunger. Like the Family Justice Center, Cooking Matters is a model  of collaboration.  It leverages the strengths of the national organization Share Our Strength and local partners.                                                           We have 10 women and 1 man registered for the inaugural series of 6 weekly workshops, with a dozen more residents wait-listed. The Center provides child care, and the children of participants get to eat delicious meals prepared by their parents. In our June e-Newsletter, I shared our interest in promoting healthy eating and active living in our community.  Cooking Matters complements our resilience-based approach and creates improved connections among our former clients and other residents. Women Inspired to Grow and Succeed (WINGS)  Women Inspired to Grow and Succeed (WINGS) is the Center’s long-term safety program. With the goal of increasing self-sufficiency and leadership skills of our low income survivors, WINGS is built on a promising practices model based on the Allstate Foundation’s curriculum.  We offer seven workshops on budgeting, debt management, goal setting, record keeping and financial literacy.  Our first cohort of 10 graduates had a lot to say about the program: “I found this workshop very helpful and relevant to my needs.” “New goals, new ideas.” “I think this is a good thing for us.” “Program helps restore hope for the future and ways to plan and prepare for it.” “I felt the WINGS workshop was very informative, and would like to see more classes.” We will offer our next series in English or Spanish in the fall.  We also offer “train the trainer” workshops for those providers interested in incorporating the WINGS curriculum in their services. Thank you to STAND! for Families Free of Violence for their continued partnership in offering this program.   Thanks to Our Funders We recently shared the great news about Kaiser Permanente’s support for the Center that took us one giant step closer to our permanent home in downtown Richmond. We also want to acknowledge Y&H Soda Foundation for their steadfast and committed partnership and The California Endowment for their encouragement of the Center’s community building work. Most recently, the San Pablo Community Foundation joined the ranks to support our work in building a community free of violence.  Just last week, we received our first check from AT&T for our WINGS program.   We are grateful to our foundation and corporate partners and ask YOU to join our Peace Plaza campaign.