Fondly Remembering Vivian Starr

7/21/1943 – 11/14/2015

They say it is the dash between date of birth and date of death that matters, that tells the real story of who a person was. We at Transitions know very well how much Vivian Starr mattered to us, her clients, and her community. She shared her gentle, caring, and creative spirit with everyone she encountered.

It seems surreal to talk about when she began working with Susquehanna Valley Women in Transition, SVWIT, because she was one of our founding mothers. Vivian was among a small group of women who saw a need and began helping victims of domestic violence right here in the Susquehanna Valley, using their own resources to help and shelter survivors in private homes. It wasn’t until 1975 that SVWIT officially began.

Vivian continued her legacy as an integral member of the ‘Women in Transition’ staff for the next twenty-five years. She shared her creativity and nurturing soul with clients and co-workers alike in so many ways: comforting, supporting, and mentoring others. This multi-talented woman worked in almost every capacity of SVWIT services.

While Vivian seemed to have a particular heart for victims of sexual assault as well as those individuals with disabilities, she used her counseling and artistic skills in a variety of ways to help victims on their journey towards becoming survivors. At SVWIT, Vivian provided support to families staying in the safe house, counseled individuals and groups, participated in on-call, accompanied victims at the hospital, brought people into the safe house, helped at a wide variety of SVWIT functions and fundraisers, lent her talents for drawing to multiple projects, facilitated groups at White Deer Treatment facility as well as Selinsgrove Center, provided legal advocacy, served on committees and represented SVWIT at Coalition-wide meetings and events.

In everything she did, Vivian seemed to be able to incorporate the same gentle, caring spirit and creativity. When she interacted with people, you were struck by her soft, unhurried manner of speech, which seemed to convey her caring for you, what you had to say and your value as a human being, deserving of safety and respect. While she sometimes shared her own inspirational art and writings with clients and SVWIT, she also encouraged others to tell their stories and express themselves through art and writing, helping survivors heal.

Many events and projects at SVWIT have had Vivian’s mark upon them. Do you have a dark green, insulated SVWIT travel mug? If so, then you have a sample of one SVWIT logo that was drawn by Vivian. From poems and stories, which she shared at events like Take Back the Night vigils, to educational efforts such as Project Listen with its corresponding coloring book that contained characters drawn by Vivian, she has left her creative/artistic influence upon Transitions’ outreach and educational efforts as well.

As you can tell, Vivian Starr mattered a great deal to Transitions, to survivors, and to this community. There is no measure for the influence she has had or the wonderful benefits we have gained by knowing her. The impact of that dash-Vivian’s life-will continue to grow and bear fruit as we continue the work she helped start here at Transitions and as we strive to be the kind of strong, compassionate advocates for survivors that she exemplified. Vivian, we thank-you and we will miss you.

Written by Tara R., Snyder County Medical/Legal Advocate