The front of the house is beautiful: a large old home restored. It’s a grand house…perhaps more for what happens inside. Behind it’s doors are women and children who are in need of safety and shelter as well as a place to play, laugh and learn new skills . Also inside this grand house is a team of exception employees and volunteers working for Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV). So begins Adele’s week 4 community service project. I explained to Adele that we were going to visit women and children in a local shelter.  Our goal was to donate items to their pantry and meet with the residents.  As Adele and I set off to the grocery store, I explained that we want to donate healthy foods (fruits, veggies, etc).  It was her “job” to pick out the items we would donate.  She took her responsibility very seriously until we [...]

April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month and is in full-swing! We will be using the blog to highlight some of our most committed volunteers. This month, and every month, we want to say THANK YOU to everyone who supports PADV with gifts of time and energy! Marquez Gaskin has been working with PADV since November of 2010. He came on board as an intern for our volunteer program but supports many departments in his work with us. Marquez is passionate about two things: social advocacy and fashion. When interviewed for the position, he was asked what he felt the correlation is between fashion and serving survivors of intimate partner violence. Without skipping a beat, Marquez said, “Fashion is all about empowerment and PADV’s mission is to empower survivors. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you’ve been through, you deserve to feel good!” Marquez brings passion to all that [...]

  PADV is excited to be in the planning stage for our 23rd annual Hearts with Hope gala.  Hearts with Hope has grown tremendously in the last ten years, from raising $50,000 in 2000 to $700,000 in 2008. Even with the recession, we raised $600,000 through the gala in 2009 and 2010. These funds support PADV’s general operations – we could not function without them. The 2011 gala will take place on March 5 at the Cobb Energy Centre and include live and silent auctions, dinner, awards and entertainment. Bob and Lyn Turknett are our honorary co-chairs and our goal is to raise $650,000. The 2011 Hope Award will be presented to Cammie and John Rice, PADV Board member and Vice Chair of GE, respectively, to recognize their outstanding contributions to support battered women and children in Atlanta. We will also be presenting the Purple Heart with Hope award to a domestic [...]

Phew! What an October it was! Domestic Violence Awareness Month always leaves me feeling exhausted after events, presentations and many opportunities to educate the community about intimate partner violence. This October was no exception and by the time November rolled around this week, I was ready for a deep breath and a long nap. But then I met Kim* and was re-energized. The other morning, I went to vote at my local precinct and as I was walking in, a woman was walking out, proudly sporting her sticker and a purple ribbon on her chest. I smiled at her and let her know that I really liked her ribbon. She stopped me in disbelief and asked if I knew what it stood for. I told her that I am the volunteer director at PADV and that ending domestic violence was something I felt passionately about and she threw her arms [...]