In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Safe Connections will be hosting a virtual public education session on healing after childhood sexual assault. The impact of childhood sexual assault and abuse often can follow into adulthood. Healing is possible, even if it may look different for every survivor. Join us for an evening filled with conversation and activities on the impact of trauma, self-care, and how to heal after harm. Discussion will include mentions of abuse, harm, and trauma; participants are encouraged to care for themselves during and after session. Feel free to share with whomever. Registration is at the QR code on the flyer and also at this link- https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrceytpjsiGtFLidnKvCAo_RguWaZQVmdp

We are so excited to announce Safe Connections men's therapy processing group! As Brigid mentioned in the SLEDSVN meeting today, this group was community driven as many community members have asked for this support. This group is for any men and masculine identified individuals (ie. including trans men, etc.) An intake is required, and interested folks can call our intake folks at 314.646.7500 ext. 118. Please reach out if there are any questions! Deadline to register is June 1. Group will be held July 9-August 27.

Hello, Happy Thursday! Many folks may have seen this already, but for anyone who is at a Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence organization, don't forget to fill out the membership survey. This is a change to share anonymously with the coalition your feedback on their work and/or what you would like to see in the future. Survey link here- Submit Form - Coalition Manager! If there are any questions, comments, concerns- please feel free to reach out! My email is emily@safeconnections.org as well as the St. Louis Members Services Specialist Nora Mosby can be reached at nmosby@mocadsv.org.

We are hiring!!! The Grants Manager leads the research, relationship cultivation, production coordination, writing, delivery, and follow-along/up for all grants. The Grants Manager is also the project leader for starting, sustaining, and growing our government grants (federal, state, and municipal) as well as a key contributor to the organization’s strategic Development and Marketing Plan. The Grants Manager is a full-time, exempt position with a flexible schedule requiring occasional evening and weekend hours. To Apply Submit cover letter, resume, salary requirements and contact information for at least three professional references to Robin Anderson, 2165 Hampton Ave., St. Louis, MO 63139 or Robin@safeconnections.org.(mailto:Robin@safeconnections.org)

For those that might not know, the Missouri Family Health Council has been distributing free emergency contraception. It can be mailed or picked up. Prevent a Pregnancy | Free Emergency Contraception (m(https://mfhc.org/for-patients/ec.html)fhc.org)(http://mfhc.org) (https://mfhc.org/for-patients/ec.html)(Link to mail form and list of pick-up locations!)

Hello! In the spirit of community and celebration, I want to invite anyone who wants to join to an informal meet-up at the City Foundry Food Hall (Food Hall (c(https://www.cityfoundrystl.com/food-hall)ityfoundrystl.com)(http://cityfoundrystl.com) (https://www.cityfoundrystl.com/food-hall)tonight at 5:00pm. The Food Hall has a variety of different types of foods and sweets! This will be a time to get to know folks more, share DVAM stories, and just generally celebrate our community! If there are any questions, etc., feel free to email me- emily@safeconnections.org!(mailto:emily@safeconnections.org) Hope to see you there!

(Content warning: loss, grief, death) I struggle with how to start to say this, but with the permission of someone who was very close to her, I wanted to ensure our community knew about an advocate who passed away this week. Sandy Brockman Gordon (you might have heard her name mentioned in our recognitions) was a domestic violence advocate, emergency shelter supervisor with ALIVE up until recently. I know there are many that worked with her and have stories and love to share. I can share that when I worked with her, she was so giving to clients- she would go out of her way daily to ensure that survivors had what they need, staff were supported, and they were never alone. So much of what she gave happened outside of anyone's view. After a long health struggle, she passed away early this Tuesday morning. Please keep her family, friends, and the advocates who worked with her in your thoughts. Obituary (including memorial information)- Obituary | Sandy Brockman Gordon of St. Louis, Missouri | Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home(https://www.campbell-lewis.com/obituary/sandy-gordon)

Hello! We are over halfway through October, and while I have chatted with a few folks about this informally, I wanted to go ahead and post here. In the spirit of community and celebration, I want to invite anyone who wants to join to an informal meet-up at the City Foundry Food Hall (Food Hall (c(https://www.cityfoundrystl.com/food-hall)ityfoundrystl.com)(http://cityfoundrystl.com) (https://www.cityfoundrystl.com/food-hall)on Thursday November 2 at 5:00pm. The Food Hall has a variety of different types of foods and sweets! This will be a time to get to know folks more, share DVAM stories, and just generally celebrate our community! If there are any questions, etc., feel free to email me- emily@safeconnections.org!(mailto:emily@safeconnections.org) Hope to see you there!

Next Monday, October 23, Domestic Violence Fatality Review Panel for the City of St. Louis will be hosting an Open House Meeting. With our review work beginnng in 2022, this panel seeks to prevent future domestic violence related homicides by reviewing past cases with the intention of learning from the past to prevent future harm. Many individuals in our community have asked to participate in a panel meeting to learn more about the process and our work, and for the past two years, we have had to decline these requests due to confidentaility. To give our communities more of an opportunity to learn about this panel's work and ask questions about this work, we will be hosting an open house meeting on Monday October 23 at 6:00pm at the St. Louis Public Library- Buder location (Buder Library | St. Louis Public Library (s(https://www.slpl.org/locations/5/)lpl.org)(http://slpl.org))(https://www.slpl.org/locations/5/) in their auditorium. At this meeting, we will have a mock review, offer a chance for questions, and provide a brief overview of our current findings (from cases 1-3.) If you are interested and able to attend, let me know by registering at this link-https://f(https://forms.gle/7RXUr42SMrQf7qdK8)orms.gle/7RXUr42SMrQf7qdK8 (http://forms.gle/7RXUr42SMrQf7qdK8)or emailing me (emily@safeconnections.org.(mailto:emily@safeconnections.org)) Individuals do not need to register to attend; it is just helpful for planning purposes. If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to let me know!

Hello,   Happy Tuesday! I hope you all are well! I am so thrilled to formally send an invitation to you for our Domestic Violence Fatality Review Panel for the City of St. Louis Open House Meeting. With our review work beginnng in 2022, this panel seeks to prevent future domestic violence related homicides by reviewing past cases with the intention of learning from the past to prevent future harm. Many individuals in our community have asked to participate in a panel meeting to learn more about the process and our work, and for the past two years, we have had to decline these requests due to confidentaility. To give our communities more of an opportunity to learn about this panel's work and ask questions about this work, we will be hosting an open house meeting on Monday October 23 at 6:00pm at the St. Louis Public Library- Buder location (Buder Library | St. Louis Public Library (slpl.org)) in their auditorium. At this meeting, we will have a mock review, offer a chance for questions, and provide a brief overview of our current findings (from cases 1-3.) If you are interested and able to attend, let me know by registering at this link-https://forms.gle/7RXUr42SMrQf7qdK8 or emailing me (emily@safeconnections.org.) Individuals do not need to register to attend; it is just helpful for planning purposes. If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to let me know!

Hello,   This year, we are thrilled to honor advocates, staff, interns, and/or volunteers who do so much behind the scenes and out of the public eye. Whether they are supporting survivors directly, educating the community on domestic/sexual violence, or providing the much needed administrative support, our community and services are better because they are here. If you would like to nominate someone from recognition as an Outstanding Individual in our field, fill out the registration form at this link by July 1st- https://forms.gle/DE7vFf4upcNfGCZo7   Qualifications for nominations  Individuals nominated must be connected to a domestic and/or sexual violence agency Individuals nominated must be connected to agency for a minimum of six months (or three months for interns.)  This could include, but is not limited to, direct service staff, outstanding interns and/or volunteers, administrative staff, outreach and education individuals, supervisors, etc.  We encourage executive directors and chief executive officers to not be nominated, due to need to uplift those often out of public eye.  Committee welcomes all nominations and will not discriminate on basis of gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex, ethnicity, religion, ability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc.   Individuals reviewing nominations may be nominated, but they will recuse themselves from voting on their nomination. Nominations will be reviewed by a minimum of three individuals from various SLEDSVN member organizations. Individuals cannot self-nominate. Once form is received, committee will send confirmation email to individual who has nominated individual. Contact Emily Stoinski (emily@safeconnections.org) with any questions.

Hello,   Happy Tuesday! Just as a reminder, the SLEDSVN appreciation nominations deadline has been extended to July 19th. We are thrilled to honor advocates, staff, interns, and/or volunteers who do so much behind the scenes and out of the public eye. Whether they are supporting survivors directly, educating the community on domestic/sexual violence, or providing the much needed administrative support, our community and services are better because they are here. If you would like to nominate someone from recognition as an Outstanding Individual in our field, fill out the registration form at this link by July 19th- https://forms.gle/DE7vFf4upcNfGCZo7   Qualifications for nominations  Individuals nominated must be connected to a domestic and/or sexual violence agency Individuals nominated must be connected to agency for a minimum of six months (or three months for interns.)  This could include, but is not limited to, direct service staff, outstanding interns and/or volunteers, administrative staff, outreach and education individuals, supervisors, etc.  We encourage executive directors and chief executive officers to not be nominated, due to need to uplift those often out of public eye.  Committee welcomes all nominations and will not discriminate on basis of gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex, ethnicity, religion, ability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc.   Individuals reviewing nominations may be nominated, but they will recuse themselves from voting on their nomination. Nominations will be reviewed by a minimum of three individuals from various SLEDSVN member organizations. Individuals cannot self-nominate. Once form is received, committee will send confirmation email to individual who has nominated individual. Contact Emily Stoinski (emily@safeconnections.org) with any questions.  

Hello, Happy Thursday! Thank you for such an enthusiastic response to the idea of honoring and uplifting advocates and other staff at our agencies! Because of my own current capacity and after speaking with Brigid, I would like to put it to a vote whether we move forward on a formalized or informal process for honoring and uplifting advocate this year. Majority vote will decide which process is desired. Link to vote anonymous is here- https://forms.gle/6svLHzhrdUDPdBb18. Please respond by Thursday March 30th at 2pm; link will be valid until that time. Process breakdown listed here: Formal Process- SLEDSVN members would vote on whether or not to establish a committee focused on appreciation and recognition of member organization staff, interns, and volunteers. Committee membership would be open to any SLEDSVN members. Committee members would complete the following tasks: creating Google form for nomination forms, establish criteria for nominations, choose individuals to recognize either due to multiple nominations for the same person or being the only nomination in a particular category, create certificates of recognition branded with SLEDSVN logo and name, and present appreciation and recognition to individuals during Domestic Violence Awareness Month SLEDSVN meeting. Informal Process- Emily Stoinski and other interested individuals who meet briefly to create process and Google form that would be sent out to all SLEDSVN members to nominate individuals for recognition and appreciation. Emily Stoinski and other interested individuals would meet briefly after nomination deadline to choose individuals either due to multiple nominations for the same person or being the only nomination in a particular category, create generalized certificates of recognition, and present appreciation and recognition to individuals during Domestic Violence Awareness Month SLEDSVN meeting. If this is well received, Emily Stoinski would move to exploring making this a formalized committee with SLEDSVN or a part of another SLEDSVN’s committee work. Note: Due to capacity, if formal process is chosen through majority vote, Emily Stoinski will table this proposal for next year due to not having capacity to build and lead another formal committee, unless another member would like to take the lead with this committee proposal and work. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions on this! My email is emily@safeconnections.org, and my phone number is 314.646.7500 ext.146.

Hello! This past weekend, I was watching the SAG awards (#self-care), and it made me start thinking about how we honor and recognize our advocates and agency staff. I know many organizations honor their staff internally and also some advocates (often higher leadership) may receive recognition at national levels by nomination, but I would like to propose that we as a community honor some of our advocates and their work in our community. I am more than happy to spearhead this effort. My thought would be that we would have an online Google form that people could submit their peers/staff for recognition. Folks would be chosen either through having more than one nomination or if they are the only nomination for that category. My thought that we would honor two-three advocates, one leadership role, and one non-direct service staff member. For this first year, the recognition would be a certificate and public acknowledgement in a meeting. My intention is to bring this to the full SLEDSVN meeting, but I want to float it here first to see if there is any support or disregard for this idea.

Hello, I was recently contacted by Cale Bouchey from Washington University who is a part of a team of folks who provide tax assistance to folks who are low income. He offered support to provide a clinic that could cover various information on tax (child tax credits, etc.) for survivors. We do not have capacity to offer this through Safe Connections at this time, but he gave me permission to pass this along to all of you in case there is interest in your agency hosting this free session for your clients. His email is cale.bouchey@wustl.edu. The group is this- LITC - WashULaw (wustl.edu) Take care!

My dear fellow colleagues, Please continue to take care of yourselves reading this information if you choose to and feel free to reach out to myself, peers, or the 988 crisis helpline if you would like any support after. I do not want to be writing this email. It feels surreal and not reality. I am sure all, if not most, folks are aware of the passing of Janée Johnson on December 30th, 2022. Janée Johnson was a force in our community. She allowed survivors to be messy, she advocated for justice and equity, and she cared for all of us in this community with support and love. I struggle with how to adequately express in writing what she has meant to our community, to survivors, to all of us. When loss and trauma occurs, as we all know, there is no perfect word, perfect action, return to normalcy, etc. Instead, we try to do what we can to move forward (however that looks in whatever timeframe that appears.) I believe in the power of community and gathering in the messy middle and know that there may be folks that need that space in our community. This Sunday, January 8th, my partner and I will have our home open from 11:00am-3:00pm for anyone that needs a space to exhale and find community in this loss. We are located in Ballwin near 141 and Manchester Road. We will have tea, hot chocolate, and some light snacks for anyone. There is no obligation, but know that we will be around for anyone that needs community. If you or your peers are interested or even are still contemplating, let me know and I am more than happy to send our address. I can be reached at emily@safeconnections.org. I know not everyone has access to this listserv, so if there is anyone that needs this information but is not on the email, please feel free to forward to them. If there is anyway that I can be of support to anyone in our community before this, please do not hesitate to reach out. May her memory always be a blessing and a call for us to continue to support survivors, advocate for justice, and create safety and community. Best, Emily Stoinski