L.A. Commission on Assaults Against Women (Rape Crisis Center) and the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center (Suicide Crisis Center) - Blog #14

Cara Van Meter presented on domestic and sexual violence in class today. The opening was very dramatic with overwhelming statistics that show how huge of a problem violence is in our society. The organization was renamed in October to Peace over Violence.

The organization was started when a woman was raped on Sunset Boulevard. in the mid-seventies. All violence starts at home with domestic violence and spreads out into other violence, said founder Peggy Reyna. The group is a non-profit that operates a 24-hour toll free number. In 1994 the organization was named the United Way Agency of the Year.

The name was changed to make them sound more independent since they are not part of the county. They also wanted to recognize that there are men that are victims and that their foot print extends further than just Los Angeles. The organization operates three offices that runs numerous programs to help end violence.

The majority of the funding for the organization comes from grants, which are a great way to operate a non-profit without using solely tax payer money. There are about 33 staff members and 250 volunteers. The turnover is about five-years for the organization, but they do have many loyal employees and volunteers. The staff goes through 64 hours of intense training. There are two main types of volunteers: hotline volunteers and violence prevention volunteers.

The atmosphere of the office was very upbeat and encouraging. There was not a sense that everything in the world is wrong. The agency is also run by consensus, not a huge bureaucracy.

The agency provides five services: hotlines and emergency services, conseling and advocacy, community education and violence prevention, latina services and deaf and disabled and elder services. The number one priority are the hotlines, where volunteers can answer calls from the comfort of their own home. Volunteers have to be on call for at least 4 hours a week. How are the calls monitored by the agency?

The most amazing services provided are the deaf and disabled services, which typically require twice as many hours of counseling coming out at an average of 20 hours. There are also the violence prevention volunteers that go out into the community and speak to the public and education others about the agency.

Story ideas that came out of this agency are denim day, the deaf, disabled and elderly services and media consultation. Denim day is a huge fundraiser that started when a woman was raped and a judge did not convict the alleged criminal because he said her jeans were so tight she would have had to pull them off herself, so there was no rape.

This is a great organization that provides services to thousands of people every year. Growing up in an environment of absolutely no violence, and then getting into a living situation in college where there has been violence it is easy to see how even the strongest of people need help and can become victims.

The second presentation was from Patricia Martinez about the suicide prevention center. The warning signs of suicide include: expressing suicidal feelings directly or bringing up the topic of suicide, giving away prized possessions, settling affairs, making out a will, signs of depression, change of behavior, risk-taking behaviors, increased use of alcohol or drugs, social isolation and developing a specific plan for suicide.

The organization was famous for starting the first 24-hour prevention hotline. Started by doctors, the agency aims to if calls would make an impact on the suicide problem. The ways to help a suicidal person is to first of all listen and to accept the person's feelings as they are and not simply try to cheer them up.

The organization operates four different crisis lines. The SPC local crisis line serves Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernadino Counties. The Hope National Hopeline Network is a national network of crisis lines. The Suicide Prevention Life Line is also a national network but is funded by SAMHSA. The Teen Line specializes in teen suicide calls.

The agency also offers a survivors after suicide groups, where individuals and family members gather to support one another. There is a licenses therapist and councilor at the meeting to help direct the discussion and support the attendees.

The agency has about 135 volunteers and applications are on the Web site. The interesting part is that there is a required $50 donation to cover the cost of the materials sent with the application. I think that's a hard sell to make to volunteers. It would be better for the agency to write a grant to cover any costs associated with acquiring volunteers instead of requiring a donation. There are administrative, office and outreach volunteers.

The main story idea that came out of this agency was the confidentially of the victims and the families. Martinez was not even allowed to speak to the volunteers or see where the hotline is run from. Another idea was to feature some of the more unique programs and groups or cover some of their fund raising events.

The suicide hotline is a great organization but it is sad that they have to be so secretive to reporters that are trying to do positive stories on the agency.