GUS Auction a huge success

The Growing Up Safe (G.U.S) auction held in downtown Paintsville in August was a huge success, earning several thousand dollars to be used toward the prevention of child abuse and/or neglect.
The annual auction is spearheaded by Commonwealth's Attorney Anna Melvin, her staff, and local community leaders, in a effort to make the Big Sandy region a safer place for youth.
Melvin, who began G.U.S. in 1995, with the help of former Victims Advocate Sara Hopson Blair, wishes to send a special thanks to all of the businesses and individuals who donated time, merchandise, and/or monetary donations toward making the August 2008 GUS auction a successful one.
Those who donated toward the event are as follows:

• Bib Evans
• Fazoli's
• H&H Paint
• Capital Tire
• Subway
• Superior Floor Covering
• StoneCrest
• Charley's Grilled Subs
• Ramada Inn
• Master Miracle
• The Paintsville Herald
• Mr. Detail
• Sparetime Bowling Alley
• Farm Bureau Insurance Company
• May's Carpet
• Matt Skeans
• E.D. Ann's Beauty Salon
• J&S
• Fannin's Plumbing
• Ferguson Enterprises
• Patco Pools
• Auto Zone
• Sandy Valley Fasteners
• The Pawn Shop
• The Upper Cut
• Fields' Cutlery LL Sales
• Cindi's Sewing
• Big Sandy Furniture
• Poor Boys Pawn Shop
• Jessica Goble
• Patty's Green Florist
• Skean's Marathon
• Johnson Central High School
• B&W
• Paintsville Tourism
• Fleet Pride
• Caudill's Wholesale
• Sears
• Country Cottage
• Tasty Temptations
• Dawahare's
• KaleidoScoops
• Just 4 You Day Spa
• Jenny Lynn's Scrub and Embroidery
• Retty Lynn's
• Family Bank
• Paul B. Hall Medical Center
• Wildwood Video
• Paintsville Park
• Citizens National Bank
• Words N Stuff
• Initially Yours
• BB&T Bank
• S&S Signs
• Brenda Shepherd's Photography
• Advance Auto Parts
• City Barber Shop
• Nordin Eye Center
• Porkey's Pizza
• Wildcat Tire
• Giovanni's Pizza
• Paintsville Lake
• Fiesta Place
• Paintsville Lake Marina
• Eddie Hazelett
• Movie Gallery
• Highlands Regional
• Cox Auto Parts
• Peebles
• Harley Davidson of Prestonsburg
• Honda of Prestonsburg
• Short's Farm Center
• Castle's Jewelry
• Karen Blair
• V-H Medical
• Ponderosa
• Dollar Store (Apple Tree Plaza)
• Mountain Enterprises
• Sallee Ann Holbrook
• Vicki Rice
• K-Mart
• Wal-Mart
• The Big Sandy News
• The Movies
• Images by John Michael
• Odd Fellows
• David Blankenship
• Auxier Greenhouse
• Sabrina Scott
• Paintsville Country Club
• The Golf Shoppe
• Baywash Coin Laundry
• Tropical Isle
• Paintsville High School
• Maggards Furniture Store
• Dr. Howard Higgins
• Paintsville Auto
• Apple Valley Sanitation
• UK Athletics
• Ferrell Gas
• American Standard
• Johnson County Glass
• Jorge's House of Ribs
• Conley Tire
• East End Pizza
• Shoney's
• William's Floral
• Conley Bros. Tire
• Elizabeth Skeans
• Sudden Link
• Johnnny Lemaster's Sportscenter
• Tackett Tire
• The Rusty Hinge
• Mid-America College of Funeral Services
• Jones-Preston Funeral Home
• Classic Cleaners
• Conley Brothers
• Crace and Sons Wrecker Service
• Foothills
• Adam O'Bryan
• Kim Compton
• JML
• Phelps & Son Funeral Home

Legislative update 2008

Domestic Violence Funding

In light of devastating cuts to the Commonwealth's social services budget, Kentucky's fifteen domestic violence programs (shelters) were rellieved to find that their state funding was not reduced. Unfortunately, flat state general fund dollars are coupled with a significant decrease in revenue from marriage license fees; a loss in federal funding: and, as the economy worsens, a drop in private giving to domestic violence programs. This loss in funding paried with the ever-increasing costs of providing shelter and services--twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week--has resulted in a statewide, immediate operating deficit of over $800,000 dollars--forcing programs to cut staff and reduce services to victims.

New Laws

News laws approved during the 2008 regular session of the General Assembly went into effect on July 15, 2008 . Two bills that were of particular interest to KDVA were SB 58 and HB 161.

SB 58 increases penalties for those who torture dogs or cats

KDVA, at the request of the Humane Society of the United States, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of this bill because of the clear link between abuse of pets and violence in the home. Seventy-one percent of pet owners entering domestic violence shelters report that their partners have threatened, injured or killed family pets. Under SB 58, causing physical injury to a dog or cat as a result of torture is a Class A misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail, while causing serious physical injury or death is a Class D felony punishable by 1-5 years in prison.
KDVA has long been a supporter of the anti-bullying legislation. Although the Senate Judiciary Committe significantly revised HB 91 requires local school authorities to alert law enforcement when harassment at school involves a potential felony. Yearly reports on school harassment will be made to the Department of Education and the Legislature.
Regrettably, HB 161 introduced b y Representative Rob Wilkey, as well as a similar legislation introduced by Senator Ray Jones (SB 108), failed to pass the legislature. Both of these bills would have expanded the protective order statue to allow persons who are dating or have dated, but who have never lived together, and do not have a child in common, to petition for protective orders. These bills would have also expanded the warrantless arrest statute to cover persons in a dating relationship.

This article was taken from the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association Summer 2008 Newsletter

Economic Empowerment Project helps 73 participants buy assets

Three years of sharing a cramped public housing apartment with her young children convinced Myriam Ibanez she needed to buy her own home. She enrolled in KDVA's Individual Development Account program and, with the help of Barren River Area Safe Space (BRASS) staff members, improved her credit score and saved $6,000--enough money for a down payment. The only problem was Myriam didn't earn enough income through her part-time job at a day care center to make a monthly mortgage payment.
That's when BRASS staff members Erin Pearson and Karla Trujillo stepped in. They helped Myriam write a resume and urged her to look for full-time employment. With their encouragement, Myriam enrolled in a certified nursing assistant training program. Her full-time job at a Bowling Green nursing home, along with her children's child support, meant she and her three children finally could afford their own home.
The family moved into the three-bedroom, two bathroom frame house on a well-maintained street in Bowling Green earlier this month. The $100,000 house sites on an acre of land in a neighborhood of newly constructed homes. Myriam said the home will make life better for her children: Marina, 11 months, Paula, 8, and Daniel, 12.
" I could buy this house because I got a better job," Myriam explained. "It's a really nice neighborhood, and my yard is big enough for my children to play." Myriam is one of 39 people who have purchased homes with the help of KDVA's IDA program. Thirty others have used their IDAs to go to school and four have used them to start small businesses. Nine home purchases are pending. About 200 participants are enrolled.
IDAs are restricted, matched savings accounts and every dollar a participant saves is matched 2 to 1. Participants who maximize the program finish with a $6,000. Participatns must haved earned income and meet income requirements. All participants are required to attend financial literacy classes, meet monthly with their case managers, and, if necessary, pay down debt and improve their credit scores.
Myriam was referred to BRASS through the court system. She met Karla when she began attending a group for Hispanic domestic violence victims. When Erin showed up one day to recruit IDA participants, Myriam was first in line. Myriam took less than two years to save her $2,000, and participataed regularly in all her case management meetings and financial education classes, Erin said. She worked hard to pay down her debt and tapped the IDA Emergency Fund to help pay a $400 past-due debt.
Karla helped Myriam write a resume, and both advocates talked to her about her intersets and helped her decide to seek a job with a nursing home that paid her to become a certified nursing assistant. Myriam, who has a green card, was born in Columbia, so Karla, who speaks Spanish, sometimes helped out during case management sessions. Erin said it took them four months to convince Myriam that she could improve her living standards. "The hardest part was building her confidence," Erin said. "Once we got through that, then we started focusing on how we were going to increase her income."

This article was taken form the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association Summer 2008 Newsletter.