PCADV Receives Check from Wawa
Roberta Hacker, president of the PCADV board of directors, received a check for $63,765.80 from Peter Gilligan, vice president and chief real estate officer of Wawa, Inc., at a July 15th event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Wawa´s Cornwell Heights, Pa., store. Wawa´s contribution to PCADV was raised through in-store donations by customers and community associates throughout Pennsylvania during the first quarter of 2010.
PCADV thanks Wawa and its customers and community partners for their generous contribution to the cause of preventing domestic violence and providing its victims and their children in Pennsylvania with safe refuge and a new start in life.
State budget protects 'stogies and chew' over the needy
The Morning Call
July 14, 2010
The state budget recently signed into law has given us a new reason to believe in the old image of cigar-chomping politicians cutting deals in smoke-filled back rooms.
For when it came down to a choice between protecting tax-free (and cancer-causing) cigars and chewing tobacco, and protecting women, children and the most vulnerable Pennsylvanians, state lawmakers chose the stogies and chew.
Read full op-ed
Pa. backroom deals aid Big Tobacco, harm regular folks
The Patriot News
July 14, 2010
The recent budget approval has given us a new reason to believe in the old image of cigar-chomping politicians cutting deals in smoke-filled backrooms.
When it came down to a choice between protecting tax-free (and cancer-causing) cigars and chewing tobacco and protecting women, children and the most vulnerable Pennsylvanians, state lawmakers chose the stogies and chew.
Read full op-ed
PCADV Joins Nonprofits to Brace for
Funds Shortfall
The Patriot News
July 1, 2010
State lawmakers and Gov. Ed Rendell reached a budget agreement much earlier than usual this year, but that doesn´t mean nonprofit groups are spared the uncertainty of how much money they will receive.
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PCADV Urges Legislators to Protect Crucial Services
PCADV Executive Director Peg Dierkers joined a coalition of human service providers, educators and policy experts in Harrisburg on June 28 to urge state legislators to enact a budget that preserves the fragile economic recovery and protects crucial services.
Read more
New Documentary on Domestic Violence
Actress and domestic violence prevention activist Mariska Hargitay, of "Law & Order: SVU," appears in “Telling Amy´s Story, ” Penn State Public Broadcasting´s powerful new documentary on domestic violence. The film will run on PBS stations nationwide beginning in June.
The documentary, product of a continuing partnership between Penn State and the Verizon Foundation to address domestic violence issues, chronicles the time leading up to the death of Amy Homan McGee, a mother of two from State College who was shot and killed by her husband in 2001. A question and answer session with Sheryl Cates, president and CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, concludes the documentary.
Information on local viewing times is available.
Domestic Violence Counts 2009 Census Results Released
In one day last year Pennsylvania´s 61 domestic violence programs served 2,597 victims and their children, according to a national report released March 8.
A 24-hour census of domestic violence shelters in all 50 states by the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) revealed that across Pennsylvania on Sept. 15, 2009:
- 1,190 victims were safely sheltered;
- 1,407 victims benefited from other services, including counseling, legal advocacy and children´s support groups;
- 950 hotline calls were answered;
- 1,473 people were trained in domestic violence intervention and prevention;
- 365 requests for services, including 247 requests for housing to escape an abuser, were unmet due to a critical shortage of funds and staff.
More information about Pennsylvania´s numbers
Access to the full report
Governor Proposes Level Funding for DV Services
FY 2010-11 Budget Update - Feb. 9
Harrisburg -- Gov. Ed Rendell proposed Tuesday to maintain funding for domestic violence services at the current level of $12.48 million in next year´s Department of Public Welfare budget. The funding, which is distributed to 61 community-based programs, supports life-saving services to domestic violence victims and their children in all 67 counties.
In light of Pennsylvania´s budgetary challenges, PCADV thanks Gov. Rendell for recognizing the critical and continuing need for domestic violence services across the Commonwealth. Unfortunately, state funding remains below what it was two years ago. With demand increasing 28 percent for shelter and 3 percent for counseling, while unmet requests for services are up 13 percent, the Coalition also is pursuing other funding sources.
Recent bad economic news has prompted numerous media inquiries about the link between between the downturn in the economy and a rise in domestic violence. While there is no research or data to make the case that recession, unemployment or empty bank accounts directly cause domestic violence, we do know that these stressful circumstances often exacerbate situations where domestic violence already is a factor. Many programs in PA and around the country attribute their overflowing shelters and waiting lists to the financial hardships currently confronting victims and their abusers. Domestic violence advocates are gravely concerned for the safety of battered victims and their children who now have fewer options and resources as the abuse escalates and the funding for local domestic violence programs dwindles. Related Information and News Articles
