A Message from the Executive Director & the Board President

From 2019 to 2020: Building a Brave Space

This past year we planted the seeds for our next big idea: a new home for POV’s Metro headquarters. As we have grown - and outgrown - our current space, we have embarked on a search with the intention of creating a brave space that will house expert and visionary programs and practitioners that not only offer healing but foster well-being and promote prevention. POV’s Board of Directors and staff worked collectively and found and committed to a new space, and we will be making our move in June 2020, occupying the entire third floor and the ground floor of a four story building at the intersection of Union at Wilshire in downtown LA. We are excited for this expansion and have launched a bold fundraising campaign that will help get us there. You will be hearing more about this in the coming months. 

While searching for and securing our new home, we have not missed a beat in continuing to respond to violence and trauma in families and communities and in our commitment to violence prevention. We have also gone through another big change this year - the successful retirement of POV’s Associate Director Cathy Friedman, who was with us for more than thirty years. This process enabled both us and Cathy to feel good in knowing that the agency was in stable hands with a bright future in all of the departments that she helped create and build. 

In the summer, we experienced a domestic violence attack at our West San Gabriel Valley/Pasadena Center. An intruder looking for his wife terrorized the staff on site. The Pasadena Police were called and responded quickly to disarm him. Needless to say, it was a traumatizing experience and we found ourselves dealing directly with domestic violence/workplace violence. The staff rallied together to get back into our resiliency zone. We utilized the very healing techniques that we provide for the community. Our TRIUMPH (Trauma Resiliency Integration Using Multiple Pathways to Healing) model which is a menu of healing modalities served our very own staff well. Our brave staff created their own brave space. This experience ratified (not that we needed it) our understanding of what survivors and their families go through - this was up front and personal to POV. More than ever, we are committed agency-wide to pursue our path of building relationships, families and communities free from sexual, domestic and interpersonal violence. 

Our new center will allow us to continue to work toward our mission and vision. We will be able to reach more people and expand our services, continue to be innovative in our programming, and create a space for families. As we say goodbye and close the books on 2019, we are looking forward to building a brave space for the community to transform their personal lives and those of their families, while we impact the wider culture. Our goal is to imagine and create a world without sexual and domestic violence. 

We hope that you will be bold and brave enough to join with us. 

The Year in Numbers

 Trauma Informed Programming

POV’s focus on trauma informed programming continues to play a primary role in informing our service provision and program development. We know that trauma is not just an individual experience but rather a collective one.  When one person in a family is harmed, the entire family is impacted. We address the root causes of trauma through a variety of different methods.

We use the TRIUMPH model - Trauma Resilience Integration Using Multiple Pathways to Healing -  which incorporates the neurobiology of trauma, empowerment strategies, trauma-processing, social connections, cultural practices, and somatic interventions. It emphasizes biology over pathology and incorporates the use of healthy relationships and safety, and bravery in the recovery process. 

The goal of the TRIUMPH Model is to increase accessibility of trauma-focused, evidence-based and evidence-informed practices to survivors of interpersonal violence. The model recognizes that the service provider is an integral part of the recovery process and needs to be grounded in trauma-informed knowledge with good self-care practices. The TRIUMPH Model is a dynamic approach to supporting recovery for survivors of interpersonal violence. It is designed to meet the survivor “where they are at” and support the service provider as they work.

Our trauma-informed clinical services utilize 27 different healing modalities including Community Resiliency Model (CRM), Art for Healing, EMDR, grounding, guided imagery, Progressive Muscle Relaxation and more. It also goes beyond our clinical services and informs our overall agency overview and specific programming like our 24 hour hotline, empowerment self defense training, youth educational program, and staff and volunteer self care.  

The demand for our services has increased and our response is to expand to a larger Metro Headquarters in 2020. Our new headquarters will accommodate the expansion of programs and to create a brave space for survivors and families to grow. 

Highlights from the Year

 The 20th Annual Denim Day

 Volunteer & Training Programs

POV Volunteers

Our volunteer programs are thriving at POV! Volunteers are the lifeblood of our organization-  they power the work that we do, allowing us provide vital services and enabling us to establish and expand our reach in our communities. POV enlists the help of volunteers who answer our 24-hour hotline, provide support to victims/survivors, and educate youth and adult community members. Each program answers specific community needs and has defined requirements for participation. Our programs and opportunities for involvement range and continue to grow to support both our needs and address the response that we receive from interested volunteers. We currently have over 200 active volunteers.

Some of our volunteer categories are: Counselor Advocate Volunteers - 24 hour crisis hotline and emergency response and Domestic Abuse Response Team members, POV Ambassadors, Voices Over Violence, and Violence Prevention Specialists. 

POV Trainings

We have seen an increase in the demand for our community and professional trainings and continue to be a sought after source of expertise for our community. In 2019, we reached almost 12,000 individuals through our community education and professional trainings. 

Community Trainings

Peace Over Violence offers our educational services and subject matter expertise to the Central Los Angeles and West San Gabriel Valley community by providing presentations on an array of topics. These topics include: The Roots of Violence, Power and Control, The Cycle of Violence, Unhealthy Relationships, Sexual Violence, Healthy Relationships, Bullying and How to Be an Upstander, and Media and its Influence on Violence. These are one time presentations for community members and students. 

Professional Trainings 

Our professional trainings cover an array of topics and can be catered to any population including businesses, law enforcement, medical professionals, and academics. These are fee for service trainings and can be developed and customized based on the needs requested. Topics are separated into four categories: intro and trauma based topics, counseling and intervention techniques, self defense, and legal. 

Empowerment Self Defense Training

One of POV’s original programs, empowerment self-defense is a combination of awareness, assertiveness, and verbal confrontation skills, combined with safety strategies, and physical techniques. These skills, strategies, and techniques provide a person with the tools to successfully prevent, resist, escape, and survive violent assaults. Self-defense trainings are offered at Peace Over Violence locations and in the community.

Youth Over Violence Leadership Institute

The Youth Over Violence Leadership Institute prepares youth to make powerful social change in their communities. Our year long program starts in the summer with a five-week Leadership Institute that is aimed at empowering local youth between the ages of 13-18 by educating them on healthy relationships and promoting awareness of teen dating violence. Students are selected to participate in the program based on their interest in making powerful social change in their communities through awareness, advocacy, and policy change. In 2019, 25 youth graduated from our Youth Leadership Institute.

An Evening Over Violence

For Our Families

Hosted at DAMA restaurant in the fashion district of Downtown LA, we were joined by allies, supporters and partners for an incredible night celebrating the transformative work of POV. Over 250 people attended the evening and together we raised funds to support POV’s expansion and move next year, and in celebration of Executive Director Patti Giggans’ birthday. 

Honorees of the evening were Los Angeles Times reporters Nicole Santa Cruz and Iris Lee, and the Netflix series Unbelievable and its creators Susannah Grant and Sarah Timberman. The evening also included a special recognition of POV Executive Director Patti Giggans’ milestone 75th birthday. At the event, Patti launched POV’s newest venture - moving in 2020 - and the accompanying campaign, Building A Brave Space. 

An Evening Over Violence reminded us of our unwavering spirit and commitment to our vision: a world without violence. Save the Date: EOV 2020 is Thursday, October 22nd!

Sponsors

POV In The News

In the time of the #metoo movement and the heightened attention around sexual violence issues and violence against women, journalists play a large role in breaking the silence and giving a voice to survivors. Journalism is a vehicle for shared testimonies and elevating these and other pressing issues into the mainstream media. We have seen this with groundbreaking media pieces that have impacted industries, big and small, and sparked real change and activism. We will continue to work with local, national, and international media to advocate and elevate survivors’ truth. 

A few coverage highlights from the past year:

Los Angeles Times article 

In September of 2019, LA Times reporters Cruz and Lee published an eye-opening domestic violence investigation as part of The Homicide Report series, The Times’ effort to tell the story of every homicide victim in Los Angeles County. They wrote and reported: “As homicides drop in L.A., more women are being killed — often by intimate partners.” This piece sought to bring a gender-based violence focus to the analysis of gun violence in LA County. 

“It happens in the shadows; it happens in the home,” said Giggans. “And when we find out about it, we try to do something about it, but we have to do more prevention.”

- Patti Giggans, from As homicides drop in L.A., more women are being killed — often by intimate partners

Spectrum News interview

“Sexual assault and rape have not been taken seriously historically. There are a number of misconceptions and lies that still persist. We’ve been working in this field and we are seeing progress. Here in Los Angeles there we have actually gotten rid of our rape kit backlog… but the State of California does not have mandatory testing. This is the only way to alleviate the backlog and have a set of mandated protocol.”

- Patti Giggans and YWCA’s Vice President Sharon Shelton on In Focus: Taking Sexual Assault Seriously

Spectrum News Interview 

“We are teaching healthy relationships. Youth are coming to school from a domestic violence situation at home or in their family and bringing that into their own experience and their own relationships. So we focus on teen dating violence, and stopping teen dating violence. We know if you are in a violent relationship as a youth, you are more likely to be in one as an adult, and the violence in the future is more likely to increase and to be more extreme… When we educate, we start with the roots of violence, and show the intersectionality of violence. We teach consent. We teach unhealthy warning signs. We teach the 7 Cs of healthy relationships - communication, consent, conduct, commitment, compatibility, compromise, and consideration…. We believe violence is something that is learned, and it can be unlearned.”

- Prevention Division Manager Hannah Denyer on Inside the Issues: Domestic Violence Survivors File 21,000 Re-straining Orders in 2018

Pasadena News Now article

“We’re there to provide support and advocacy, to help [survivors] understand the process, and offer follow up services… Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior used to maintain power and control over another in a relationship. It can involve physical abuse, emotional abuse, economic abuse, coercion and threats, intimidation, isolation, minimizing, denying, blaming. And they can even use the children against the other partner. There is a crisis intervention aspect and when someone has experienced that type of trauma we then take the time to listen to the survivor. We don’t come in asking what happened, our purpose is to be there as a support person and educate them about their rights and what their options are.”

- COO Yvette Lozano, from After Domestic Abuse Reports Rose in Pasadena, A New Team Was Formed to Help Victims

 Financial Statements

Supporters

Corporate Support

ARTIVIST Entertainment
BTS USA Inc.
Chevron
Duffy, Kruspodin & Company, LLP
Employee Community Fund of Boeing
ESPN
LA Care Health Plan
MUFG Union Bank

major donors

Aviva Weiner
Bodek Harris Family Fund
Cathy Friedman and Michael Renov 
Christina Mauro 
Dawn Bey 
Debbi Winter 
Elaine Tumonis 
Fran Jemmott 
Jehan Agrama and Dwora Fried 
Kay Collier 
Laney Vazquez Esq. 
Marc and Shelagh Baseman 
Marie Martineau 
Maya Jupiter and Aloe Blac 
Michelle Santucci 
Pam Palmer 
Ric Wake
Susan Sorenson 

Sustaining Members

Andrea Douglas
Andrea Keller
Angie Wimpress
Aracely Lozano
Ashley Stacy
Beth Romeo
Beth Tishler
Brenda Ingram
Brianne Palmer
Caitlin Haffert
Christina Mauro
Corlyn Katz
Cynthia Sears
Danny Getzoff
Dawn Bey
Debra Nakatomi
Deborah Kagan
Deborah Klar
Donna Kaz
Erica Poellot
Eva Gross
Fabiola Montiel Tellez
Frances Fisher
Glenda Goodman
Jacqueline Mariscal
Jan Morris
Jendayi Trimble
Julia Salazar
Katherine Valdez
Kent Kiesey
Keziah Robinson
Kristen Lisanti
Lana Spraker
Laura Ripplinger
Lauren von Bernuth
Linda Garnets
Lori Leigh Beesley
Mary Lee Wegner
Mary Luck
Melinda Nordeng
Melodie Kruspodin
Michelle Santucci
Nikki Hozack
Patti Giggans and Ellen Ledley
Peggie Reyna
Quiana Bulliox
Rebeca Mendez and Adam Eeuwins 
Regina Waugh
Ramona Lombard
Sandra Garcia
Sarah Leitz-Compagnoni
Silvia Rocco
Stan Gorbunov
Summer Thrash
Terri McDonald
Vanessa Bradley
Yasmin Dunn

ADVISORY Board

Allison Grabell
Alyce Laviolette, M.S, MFT
Betsy Butler
Billie Weiss, MPH
Christine Hershey
Deborah Kagan
Debra Nakatomi
Elaine Tumonis, ESQ.
Elena Christopoulos
Ellen Ledley, LCSW 
Frank Quevedo
Jehan Agrama
Joan Crear
Kellie Hawkins

GOVERENMENT SUPPORT

California Office of Emergency Services
California Victims’ Compensation Program
California Department of Public Health
Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
Los Angeles County Department of Public and Social Services
Mayor’s Office, City of Los Angeles
Family’s Source, City of Los Angeles
Gang Reduction Youth Development, City of Los Angeles 
Mexican Consulate
Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice
Office on Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice

*Board of Directors

Christina Mauro, President
Stanislav Gorbunov, Vice President
Dawn Bey, Treasurer
Yasmin Dunn, Secretary
Linda Ruffer
Char Bland
Rochelle Witharana
Brianne Palmer
Mike Bayless
Jason Strzelczyk

*Board Emeriti

Rochelle Lindsey
Cynthia Sears
Elaine Tumonis

*NATIONAL ADVISORY  Board

Kibi Anderson
Eve Ensler
Jackson Katz, PhD
Debbie Lee
Steve LePore
Jan Morris
Esta Soler
Susan B. Sorenson, PhD 
Laney M Vazquez
Maile Zambuto

FOUNDATION SUPPORT

Helmstetter Family Foundation
J.B. & Emily Van Nuys Charities
Kaiser Permanente
L.A. Kings Care Foundation
Pinpoint Foundation
Skoll Foundation
The California Wellness Foundation
The Friendship Fund