Starfishgirl Anti-Stalking Campaign

Transcription

1 Starfishgirl Anti-Stalking Campaign General Information Contact Information Nonprofit Starfishgirl Anti-Stalking Campaign Address 46 Woodland Road Guilford, CT Phone (203) Web Site Web Site At A Glance Year of Incorporation 2014 Organization's type of tax exempt status Organization received a competitive grant from the community foundation in the past five years Public Supported Charity No 1

2 Mission & Areas Served Statements Mission The Starfishgirl Anti-Stalking Campaign seeks to raise awareness about stalking, provide services to support the healing process of individuals who have been stalked, and educate society about the need for stronger protection of stalking victims as well as harsher penalties for perpetrators Background The Starfishgirl Anti-Stalking Campaign was born out of the personal experience of Shawnna Armstrong. That experience included being stalked and, upon reaching out, finding little to no help available. In pursuit of assistance, Ms. Armstrong decided to utilize her own experiences as an activist to develop assistance for others. After years of experiential research, feasibility studies and heartbreaking discoveries of systemic failures with respect to the concerns of stalking victims, Starfishgirl created its own group counseling program and launched its official community outreach and organizing program in Impact Starfishgirl has received enormous grass roots support in Connecticut. If the groundswell of local support already received serves as a prediction of the support we will receive in the future, we will most certainly, with your help, be able to continue and expand our current programs as well as create new ones. A few of our most recent victories, in collaboration with others, include: *In 2012 Connecticut strengthened its stalking laws by including the criminalization of cyber-stalking, a result in part of our 2011 community organizing, outreach and feasibility study and advocacy work. *An informal stalking education program was implemented in the Guilford, CT public school system in *The Guilford police department is re-structuring and raising the awareness of its officers about the realities and consequences of stalking, training them to investigate cyber-stalking cases, and referring victims to agencies who can assist. *We have also worked in collaboration with the Milford Rape Crisis Center to provide stalking victims with immediate assistance while we work to get our counseling program funded. Your assistance would bring us one step closer to our goal of providing free counseling services to stalking victims in Connecticut. Eventually, we hope to provide free group-counseling services to stalking victims nationwide. Needs Starfishgirl is a new and emerging non-profit. Therefore our needs are vast. We need: *Board members who are skilled in accounting, computers, and fundraising *Unrestricted operating support*funding for our group counseling program*funding for the expansion of our community outreach program CEO Statement Starfishgirl is an emerging non-profit working to provide solace and supportive services to victims who have felt discarded and abandoned. The feelings of helpless violation that so often permeate the lives of stalking victims in our country are soul shattering. The thought of people in our communities suffering alone and in silence because they have been told that their lives, their safety, and their peace of mind simply don t merit the expenditure of societies resources is heartbreaking. These sort of re-victimizing messages only increase the pain of victims as well as the social dysfunction within our communities. Our goal this year is to reach into as many local communities as possible and give people who have lost hope, the courage, inspiration and support they need to reach out and ask for help again. Nobody should have to live with being stalked in shame or isolation. Stalking victims are not to blame for their circumstances. Stalking victims need and deserve our help and support as they re-claim their lives and health. Now more than ever, stalking victims need your help to break out of isolation, re-join their communities, and take back their lives. So please if you know someone who is being stalked, reach out to her, invite her to a movie, dinner, or concert. Let her know that she is not alone and that you care. And if you are able, please consider making a gift to The Starfishgirl Anti-Stalking Campaign. Each gift we receive brings us one step closer to actualizing our vision. Warm regards,shawnna Armstrong Service Categories Primary Organization Category Crime & Legal - Related / Crime prevention 2

3 Secondary Organization Category Crime & Legal - Related / Areas Served Guilford Branford Madison 3

4 Programs Programs Community Education and Outreach Description Community organizing, outreach, education, and referral. Budget $0.00 Category None / Population Served Short Term Success Long Term Success Adults / Crime/Abuse Victims / Adults The community support in Guilford has been tremendous. The IRS has retroactively reinstated our non profit public charity status. We look foreword to the summer organizing season! Starfishgirl Group Counseling Program Budget $0.00 Category None / Population Served None / None / None Program Comments CEO Comments According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the CDC, stalking is a public health problem known to tragically affect millions of people in the United States. Stalking is a gateway crime to greater acts of violence, such as kidnapping, rape, and murder. Gavin De Becker, a highly regarded national security and crime expert, estimates that, before our next breakfast, at least twelve women will be murdered by estranged intimate partners. The startling reality is that 76% of these victims will be stalked for at least one year prior to their murders. Clearly, stalking victims have good reason to feel fear and terror. Yet we are witnessing a systemic failure in our country to meet the needs of stalking victims before this crime causes irreversible trauma or escalates to deadly violence. Some of the systemic barriers preventing stalking victims from getting support include the following: Too often there is significant bias against stalking victims based on sexist, racist, gender and stereotypical assumptions. This bias is the result of a lack of training and coordination among the law enforcement, legal and mental health professions. Only when these developments have taken place will victims be properly cared for and stalkers be held responsible for their behavior. Unfortunately, there are very few resources available to assist victims in reclaiming their mental, physical, and financial health. The United States Department of Justice estimates that, of all the grant monies awarded to battered women s shelters, rape crisis centers, and victims advocacy organizations, a mere seven percent is distributed to stalking victims assistance programs. This is alarming news as we of the Starfishgirl Anti-Stalking Campaign ponder the ways in which we can be more effective and best serve stalking victims. We believe that it is vitally important to implement our counseling program that has been specifically created to serve the needs of stalking victims. Assisting victims with coping strategies, support and empowerment is crucial to the well being of the individuals, of their families, and of the community as a whole. We must also continue and expand our grassroots educational, referral and outreach programs. Finally, we must hold our elected officials, the courts, and police departments accountable to the concerns of stalking victims so that when victims reach out for help, they are not victimized again by ignorance, apathy or bias. 4

5 Leadership & Staff CEO/Executive Director Ms. Shawnna Armstrong Term Start June Experience Shawnna Armstrong, B.A., President, Executive Director and Founder of The Starfishgirl Anti-Stalking Campaign, Guilford, CT 2004 present. The Starfishgirl Anti-Stalking Campaign was born out of the personal experience of Ms. Armstrong. That experience included being stalked and, upon reaching out, finding little to no help available. In pursuit of assistance, Ms. Armstrong decided to utilize her own experiences as an activist to develop assistance for others. She has over twenty-five years of successful experience in all aspects of fundraising, campaign organization and implementation, event planning, activist training, and non-profit management. Ms. Armstrong s refined yet dynamic leadership skills and interest in individuals and issues, combined with her extensive non-profit work in areas ranging from social justice, rape assistance and awareness, and the environment to the animal sanctuary movement bring a unique and experienced perspective to Starfishgirl. Ms. Armstrong has worked for Campaign California, The California League of Conservation Voters, Clean Water Action, The Rape Assistance and Awareness Program, and Progressive Maryland. After routinely breaking office fundraising records for these organizations for almost twenty years, Ms. Armstrong founded Starfishgirl in Co-CEO Dr. Lynne Armstrong Term Start June gtcsa-1@earthlink.net Experience Lynne Armstrong, Ed.D., Vice President Senior Therapist and owner, The Group Therapy Center of San Antonio, Texas January 1982 present (33 years, 4 months). Dr. Armstrong is a seasoned psychotherapist, having practiced in an independent practice for many years. She has taught psychology and clinical counseling (the theory and practice of psychotherapy) in the graduate divisions in universities and has also consulted with and trained therapists in areas such as working with the LGBT population, PTSD, couples and family concerns. There are few of life's traumas with which she has not worked. Providing therapy to persons who have suffered the consequences of sexual abuse was her first specialization. Therefore we are thrilled to have her support not only as a board member but also as the creator and supervisor of the Starfishgirl group counseling program. Dr. Armstrong is an activist and a visionary. She was co-chair of the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio; she has served the City of San Antonio on the Affirmative Action Commission and the Mayor s Council on Women; and she has worked as liaison between the San Antonio Police Department and the LGBT community of San Antonio. She has also served as a consultant to the Archdiocese of San Antonio, providing therapy to clergy and religious persons, and as a consultant to the San Antonio Independent School District. Dr. Armstrong specializes in clinical counseling with survivors of sexual abuse, stalking and other forms of abuse, couples therapy, family therapy, group therapy and therapy with LGBT persons. Staff Number of Full Time Staff 0 5

6 Number of Part Time Staff 0 Number of Volunteers 1 Number of Contract Staff 0 Staff Retention Rate 0% Staff Demographics - Ethnicity African American/Black 0 Asian American/Pacific Islander 0 Caucasian 1 Hispanic/Latino 0 Native American/American Indian 0 Other 0 0 Staff Demographics - Gender Male 0 Female 1 Unspecified 0 Plans & Policies Organization has a Fundraising Plan? Organization has a Strategic Plan? Under Development Years Strategic Plan Considers 4 Date Strategic Plan Adopted June 2014 Management Succession Plan? Under Development Organization Policy and Procedures Under Development Nondiscrimination Policy Whistleblower Policy Document Destruction Policy No Formal Evaluations CEO Formal Evaluation CEO/Executive Formal Evaluation Frequency Senior Management Formal Evaluation Senior Management Formal Evaluation Frequency Non Management Formal Evaluation Non Management Formal Evaluation Frequency Quarterly N/A N/A N/A N/A 6

7 Collaborations Starfishgirl is currently formally collaborating with the Milford Rape Crisis Center. We informally communicate with various police departments on the Ct. Shoreline as well as with Guilford Youth and Family Services. 7

8 Board & Governance Board Chair Shawnna Armstrong Company Affiliation Starfishgirl Anti-Stalking Campaign Term June 2014 to June 2020 Board of Directors Name Dr. Lynne Armstrong Ed.D. Kathy Stanbridge Affiliation Board Demographics - Ethnicity African American/Black 0 Asian American/Pacific Islander 0 Caucasian 2 Hispanic/Latino 1 Native American/American Indian 0 Other 0 0 Board Demographics - Gender Male 0 Female 3 Unspecified 0 Governance Board Term Lengths 6 Board Term Limits 6 Board Meeting Attendance % 100% Number of Full Board Meetings Annually 4 Written Board Selection Criteria Written Conflict of Interest Policy Percentage Making Monetary Contributions 66% Percentage Making In-Kind Contributions 66% Constituency Includes Client Representation No 8

9 Board Co-Chair Dr. Lynne Armstrong Company Affiliation Group Therapy Center of San Antonio Term June 2014 to June

10 Financials Financials Fiscal Year Start Jan Fiscal Year End Dec Projected Revenue $25, Projected Expenses $25, Endowment Value $0.00 Spending Policy N/A Percentage (if selected) 0% Detailed Financials Prior Three Years Total Revenue and Expense Totals Chart Fiscal Year Total Revenue $22,378 $20, Total Expenses $22,378 $20, Prior Three Years Assets and Liabilities Chart Fiscal Year Total Assets Current Assets Long-Term Liabilities Current Liabilities Total Net Assets Prior Three Years Top Three Funding Sources Fiscal Year Top Funding Source & Dollar Amount Second Highest Funding Source & Dollar Amount Third Highest Funding Source & Dollar Amount Solvency Short Term Solvency Fiscal Year Current Ratio: Current Assets/Current Liabilities Long Term Solvency Fiscal Year Long-Term Liabilities/Total Assets

11 Capital Campaign Currently in a Capital Campaign? No Goal $0.00 Capital Campaign Anticipated in Next 5 Years? Comments Foundation Staff Comments This profile, including the financial summaries prepared and submitted by the organization based on its own independent and/or internal audit processes and regulatory submissions, has been read by The Community Foundation. Financial information is input by Foundation staff directly from the organization s IRS Form 990, audited financial statements or other financial documents approved by the nonprofit s board. The Foundation has not audited the organization s financial statements or tax filings, and makes no representations or warranties thereon. The Community Foundation requires three years of financial information from the nonprofit organization; however, this requirement may not be available for some organizations due to their more recent incorporation or formation. The Community Foundation is continuing to receive information submitted by the organization and may periodically update the organization s profile to reflect the most current financial and other information available. The organization has completed the fields required by The Community Foundation and updated their profile in the last year. To see if the organization has received a competitive grant from The Community Foundation in the last five years, please go to the General Information Tab of the profile. Created Copyright 2019 The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven 11