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Asheville Buncombe Coalition for Prevention of Family Violence (ABCPFV) MINUTES

WHEN: August 8, 2008

PRESENT
Anne Parker (Allergy Partners of WNC)
Amy Hobson (Helpmate)
Ladonna Norton (Mission Hospital-FNE Program)
Donna Borowski (The Hope House Ministry)
Dana Vaughn-Mgunda (The Hope House Ministry)
Jenny Sliker (YWCA – New Choices)
Patience Burdine (Bunc Co Sheriffs Dept)
Janice Loggins (Bunc. Co DA's Office)
Yvette Jocelyn (WCCJ/Women at Risk)
Steve Snow (Bunc County Health Center)
Shykera Jenkins (Bunc. Co DA's Office - intern)
Blan Minton (Legal Aid of NC)
Julie Klipp Nicholson (Pisgah Legal Service)
Angelica R. Wind (Pisgah Legal Service)
Deborah Comptom (NC Council for Women)
(15 in attendance)

WELCOME
Joining us today is Donna Borowski and Dana Vaughn-Mgunda with The Hope House Ministry.

CALENDAR ITEMS



August 9, 2008 (Saturday) – 7:00 pm, Blue Ridge Rollergirls at the Asheville Civic Center. A portion of the proceeds benefit New Choices program at the YWCA.

August 10, 2008 (Sunday) – 1:00-4:30 pm – Encouraging Cup Coffee House, Fletcher, NC (past Ingles) Benefit concert for Hope House Project. $10.00 adults.

September 11 & 12, 2008 – Revolutionalizing Batterer Intervention. (pre-conference on September 10) Location – Carolina Beach. Featuring Tony Porter, additional presenter Kathleen Balogh (information had been sent out by email previously) Contact NCPAT Phone: (336) 687-5067.

September 20, 2008 (Saturday) 1:00-4:00 p.m. – Women’s Agenda Event by the The Buncombe County Women’s Commission. Location at Asheville YWCA. Childcare will be provided, but reservations are required. For more information, please contact Sandra Abromitis, 686-8281 or 280-4861 or abromitis@msn.com. (information had been sent out by email previously)

ANNOUNCEMENTS & UPDATES
Julie Klipp Nicholson (Pisgah Legal Service)
Zahra is leaving PLS and moving to Charlotte. They will have an opening for a Social Worker.
Blan Minton (Legal Aid of NC)
(1) He is doing more elder law. They are hoping to hire another attorney (their 5th) in September.
(2) They are offering Divorce Clinic. People can pick up a packet at the courthouse. They must qualify for legal aid and sign up for an appointment. Divorce clinic are on Tuesdays.
(3) Custody Clinics will begin in September.
Ladonna Norton (Mission Hospital-FNE Program)
(1) There are nine forensic nurses in training now.
(2) She is aware of a 4 day Conference in the Outer Banks in October, available with CEUs at a very low cost - $99.00. She will pass along information to the group.
Patience Burdine (Bunc Co Sheriffs Dept)
The 911 Communications department has moved across from Erwin high school. APD will join them later in August. The phone number is 250-6670. Patience’s new number is 250-6672.
Steve Snow (Bunc County Health Center)
(1) There is a website www.nchealthcarehelp.org available to people with no insurance. It has a useful database and is organized by county.
(2) He has access to our ABCPFV website and hopes to get together with those who wanted to update it. He would like to put a calendar on it.
(3) Helpmate came to talk with their clinicians.
(4) He is working with Child Advocacy Centers regarding multi-disciplinary teams, anything that can be streamlined for kids. This is an area that interests him.

THE HOPE HOUSE PROJECT
Donna and Dana are here to introduce us to The Hope House Project. It is a passion from Emily Fitzpatrick who has worked at The Cove. She has created On Eagles Wings Ministries to educate people about sex trafficking.

Anywhere from 14,000 to 17,000 people are brought into the US every year for the purpose of human trafficking. This can be broken down into many categories: sex, pornography, labor, migrant (i.e. nail salons, construction) It can also include Americans that are being trafficked (i.e. pimps & prostitutes). Education, education…so it is recognized.

Their program has a gift bag ministry that gives items to women in need. They were hoping to purchase a bed/breakfast inn in Enka/Candler for victims of sex trafficking. It appears another location in Buncombe county may be a better option. They have a tax free status and an accountant on staff. Shared Hope International was established by a Congresswoman and currently has 5 houses in the US.

A benefit will be help August 10, 2008. See above events. It will give more information about their project. Dana handed out brochures and posters to everyone in attendance. The Human Trafficking Hotline phone number is 1-888-3737-888. For more information on trainings, contact Dana at danavm@email.unc.edu

It was mentioned that young women and young men have been seen in the ER and there may have been trafficking occurring. Does this safe house include the possibility of men? Good question. There is concerns about security, safety for the houses that needs to be answered.

OCTOBER CONFERENCE
Elizabeth from MAHEC was unable to come today, but we hope people contacted her about helping with the conference. Deborah talked to Kathleen and got back with her.

Plans for a Silent Walk - 5pm, the Tuesday night prior to the Conference. Julie has the banner and will take care of the permits. Ladonna has posters we can use. The plan is to walk from the courthouse to Pritchard Park. Helpmate is still developing their October events.

Next meeting is September 12, 2008.

Sincerely
Anne Parker http://www.abcpfv.org/

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