Archive for November, 2010

Alarmingly, domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women in the Upstate of SC, more than muggings, stranger rapes and automobile accidents combined. And, both sexual abuse and domestic violence are associated with an increased risk for developing a number of psychiatric conditions or exacerbating existing mental health challenges. At the same time, living with a serious mental illness or disability may also increase a woman’s vulnerability to abuse.

Unfortunately, many victims of domestic and sexual violence and women with mental illness disabilities, are reluctant to seek help due to fear, shame, and the stigma of their experience. On October 1, 2009 Safe Harbor became one of only six organizations in the nation to be funded by the US Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women with a three-year $600,000 grant awarded to address challenges that  victims of violence with mental health disabilities confront when seeking services.  Read the rest of this entry »

Supporters—great progress has been made in Safe Harbor’s joint effort with a Clemson PR class to win a Pepsi Refresh Grant.   After starting the race ranked #206, our project moved up to #87 in less than one week! Currently our project is ranked #92 and needs to be in the top ten in order to win this $25,000 grant. This is a crucial time for voting—in the middle of the month many other projects will experience lulls in voting after a strong start, so we would greatly appreciate your help in continuing to vote daily and spreading the word about this amazing grant opportunity. The following is a word from a few of our Clemson friends who have been working diligently to promote the project on their campus:

Our personal networks are buzzing with messages about Safe Harbor and links to vote for this project. We have emailed multiple organizations on campus, posted the link to Facebook and Twitter, written blog entries, and encouraged our friends and family to vote daily. Professors and students have responded positively to our efforts and are engaging their networks to vote for Safe Harbor as well. Please continue your hard work in promoting this project—as a community we can make this happen! In addition to voting daily at www.refresheverything.com/StudentsForSafeHarbor, you can also text 103648 to 73774. This is an easy, quick way to cast your vote frequently and no additional fees apply. We are having a lot of fun investing our time and effort into this project, and we’re excited to work with you to help revive Safe Harbor’s shelters!

Keep up the good work,
Laura Davis, Emily White, and Hannah Ross
On behalf of COMM 456, a Clemson PR class

We are excited to announce that a class of Clemson public relations students has partnered with Safe Harbor to help domestic violence victims in the Upstate. The class has entered us into the national Pepsi Refresh grant competition.  We now need everyone’s help to vote online for our project to win $25,000.  The top 10 projects (out of 1,000) with the most online votes in November will win the grant money.

The $25,000 grant will help purchase 30 new twin bed mattresses, install new carpet, and renovate the playground equipment at one of our shelters.  These shelters house over 500 women and children each year who need temporary housing as they escape violent situations at home. After 15 years of housing families in crisis, our shelters need these renovations to better serve future families.

 Here’s how you can help Safe Harbor win $25,000:
• Go to RefreshEverything.com/StudentsForSafeHarbor to vote now!
• Click the “Vote for this idea” and create an account with your email. It takes less than a minute to sign up, and you will not receive spam.
• Once you have voted, you do not have to register again, so vote every  day through Nov. 30!
• Help us spread the word – get everyone you know to vote!

We are thrilled to have the support of this class, but we need everyone to vote daily to win this grant. Please pass the link to our project on to your friends and family to encourage as many votes as possible. Together, we can win the money to refurbish our shelter!