Transitioning Times

This summer, Transitions said good-bye to the Chair of our Board of Directors, Lisa Steele.  Before she left, our Chief Executive Officer, Susan Mathias, sat down with Lisa to discuss her involvement and dedication to ending violence against women and her vision for Transitions' future. Lisa Steele has served on the Board of Transitions for six years, holding the position of Board Chair for the last three years.   During her time on the Board, the annual budget has grown 20 percent and now exceeds $1 million.   Transitions has become a Comprehensive Crime Victim Services organization with a strong and clear focus on violence against women which shows itself in our society most strongly through domestic violence and sexual assault, including rape.   I have enjoyed working with you as Chairman of the Transitions Board.   How did you become involved in the organization?   Sue Mathias, your sister-in-law, was the Board Chair, as she had been for most of her twenty-plus yea

Have you ever considered the actual cost of violence? Or who bears the burden of the expense?? Several organizations and studies have attempted to quantify the economic impact of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. In Colleen Murphy’s article, “The financial costs of sexual assault,” she references a White House report, which places the cost of sexual assault for a survivor between $87,000 and $240,000.  Those figures include medical and victim services, loss of productivity (career and/or academic), decreased quality of life, law enforcement resources and the immeasurable impact on a person’s emotional and mental well-being. Similarly, direct costs of Domestic Violence can include healthcare, social and welfare services, counseling, police and criminal justice services, legal services, transportation, housing, cost to repair or replace property and more. A study conducted by the CDC about 12 years ago estimated that Domestic Violence cost the US economy more than $5.8 billion in

Showing empathy is a lot more than just being able to see another person’s point of view!  Con artists and even child molesters can use this kind of tactic to convince their victims to trust them.  True empathy means that we value, respect, and do our best to understand where another person is coming from, even when we don’t feel the same way!  Empathy involves both kindness and seeing another person’s point of view.  This is why empathy is so important to teach children – it prevents not only bullying but all sorts of cruel and unfair ways of treating others.  According to Rick Weissbourd, co-director of Making Caring Common Project, there are five main ways for parents and teachers to help develop empathy in kids.  The first way is to practice showing empathy to the children in your life, whether they are yours, relatives, or your students.  Be kind and openly express goodwill and compassion for others.  Kids feel valued when we show interest in what appeals to them.  They like