Domestic Abuse Women's Network (DAWN) Kid's Club   Julia finally left her abusive relationship for the sake of her children; she did not want them growing up to be like their father. Once out of the relationship she was surprised that the effects of the abuse would continue long after she left. Her seven-year-old son Mason was aggressive and often sent home from school. Her nine-year-old daughter Katie was withdrawn and had difficulty talking to her mom about her feelings. Julia's story is all too common among domestic violence victims. Recent community reports indicate that an estimated 23,000 children per year in King County witness domestic violence; many are often victims themselves. These reports call for programs to help children and the non-abusing parent understand what they've been through, and help prevent them from repeating the cycle of violence. Fortunately, children are remarkably resilient and with proper interventions the impact of domestic violence can be markedly diminished.   The Domestic Abuse Women's Network (with generous financial support from the Auburn Soroptimists, United Way Venture Funds, Seattle-King County SOAR Opportunity Funds, and the South County Community Network) has partnered with nationally renowned domestic violence expert to implement DAWN's Kids' Club. This evidence-backed national model promotes strategies to help parents and caregivers establish and maintain better communication and nurturing relationships with their children.    DAWN's Kids' Club is conducted in a safe, trusting, and confidential atmosphere where children can share their experience of family violence. Kids' Club is an eight-week program that addresses the children's sense of isolation, shame, rage and the feeling that they are not safe and have no one to talk to. The program focuses on helping children to define domestic violence as unacceptable and give concrete plans of action on how to protect themselves in the event of additional family violence. Children who participate will be better prepared to attend and focus on school responsibilities and behave less aggressively as a result of addressing their internal feelings. They will also learn better communication skills that will help their custodial parent better understand their feelings. The program includes a training/support component for the custodial parents, and many of the sessions include both parents and kids.   To learn more about DAWN's work visit www.dawnonline.org. If you are interested in finding out more about Kid's Club or know someone who might benefit from this program, please call (425) 656-4305 ext. 249.
	The Washington Council for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect Children's Trust Fund of Washington   In 1982, Washington became the first state in the nation to create a separate agency solely dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. The Washington Council for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect (WCPCAN) / Children's Trust Fund of WA was established by the legislature in response to a statewide grassroots lobbying effort. Citizen advocates for children were convinced that Washington could and should do more to protect children from harm rather than putting all of its efforts into after-the-fact responses.   With a focus on prevention that includes program funding, policy advocacy and public awareness, WCPCAN represents a unique asset in Washington's efforts to ensure the health and well-being of our state's children.   For almost 25 years, WCPCAN has been at the forefront of state and national efforts to promote greater community understanding of and involvement in the prevention of child abuse and neglect.
	How you can help put the brakes on child abuse & neglect   A new "Keep Kids Safe" special license plate helps contribute to community programs that prevent abuse and neglect. The plates cost $45 and are available at any vehicle licensing office across the state. For each "Keep Kids Safe" license plate sold, $33 goes directly to the Children's Trust Fund of Washington to help keep children of all ages healthy and safe. For more information, visit www.wcpcan.wa.gov.
	More news...

Yellow Rose Award

Cornerstone United Methodist Church (photo) helped the Jennifer Beach Foundation and the Covington Domestic Violence Task Force raise awareness about domestic violence in our community.
 
Volunteers included Stan and Kathy Gardner, Lane Strickland, Tina and Eddie Brown, Jeff and Gayla Hiss, Mike and Patti Barile, Brian and Joanne Heineman, and Nillofur Beach (photographer).
 
Information packets were delivered to 151 businesses in Covington in June. These packets included material on domestic violence, its impact on our community, tools for employers having to address the impact of domestic violence in the work place, and other related items.

Notes of appreciation

Spanish Translation of "Bruised Inside & Out" – Elizabeth Valdivia (Green River Community College), Rubi Romero and staff (Consejo Consulting and Referral Services), Chelle (DAWN), Diane Muir, Glenn Hampson (Castle Pacific Publishing)
 
Domestic Violence Walk-A-Thon at Fort Dent – Jeff Beach, Laurie Beach, Nillofur Beach, Michelle Caudill, Benny Kang, Carole Kolson, James Pak, Londa Piatt. Photo
 
Covington Days – The Kiwanis of the Foothills and it’s members.
 
Financial Literacy Program – Stacy Lanoye and Christine Holmes (Boeing Employees Credit Union), Nikki Winneger and Cathy Price (Bank of America), Carol Kolson (Home Street Bank), Wendy Simmons (Washington Womens’ Employment and Education), Jennifer Quiroz and staff (YWCA South King County)

Volunteer opportunities

We have a variety of areas (from grant writing to administrative work) where volunteer support would be appreciated. Please contact us if you would like to get involved

Jennifer Beach Foundation e-News, Winter 2006, Volume 1, Issue 1. Laurie Beach, Editor. Keith Beach, President. Nillofur Beach, Staff Photographer. Glenn Hampson, Publisher.

We hope you enjoyed reading this issue. Look for your next issue next quarter.

Event dates are subject to change. Visit our website at www.jnbfoundation.org or call us for more information.

At the Jennifer Beach Foundation, our goal is to help stop child abuse and neglect by distributing awareness and prevention information, teaching skills classes, sponsoring domestic safety programs, and more. Visit our website at www.jnbfoundation.org for more information or to donate.

A message from the president: Jennifer's concern for children continues

Welcome to the first issue of the Jennifer Beach Foundation newsletter. This has been a very rewarding year for us. In our quest to help in the fight to end child abuse and neglect, we've had the pleasure of working on projects with many local organizations. These organizations address the difficult and complex issues that arise in sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse and neglect situations. Through these partnerships we have learned much and found areas where we can make a difference in the lives of others. We're grateful for that opportunity.

Our greatest joy has been that we, along with friends and partners, have been able to help others in the same way that we believe Jennifer (Beach) would be doing if she were here today. Jennifer always thought of others first and had a special fondness for young children. The Jennifer Beach Foundation grew out of our efforts to share a poem that Jennifer wrote. We share the poem to help victims see that they are not alone or that it is not their fault for what is happening to them, with hope that the words of the poem may move them to reach out for help. Many have read Jennifer's poem and have been moved to action in various ways to help end abuse.

On the following pages we're happy to share with you some of the events and activities that we have been a part of this year. We're hoping to do even more in 2007. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments.

Best wishes during the holiday season,

Keith Beach, President

First television interview
 
On September 29th, Keith Beach, President of Jennifer Beach Foundation was interviewed by Kevin Jones of KTBW-TV in Federal Way, Washington. KTBW is an affiliate of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the world's largest Christian broadcasting network. The thirty minute interview had two segments. The first segment discussed domestic violence and child abuse and neglect issues and the indirect impact of domestic violence on children while the second segment addressed financial literacy programs geared to assist survivors of domestic violence. The interview aired on October 12th at 10:30 a.m. and October 13th at 8:00 a.m.
 
Jennifer Beach Foundation receives award

On October 26th, the King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence presented their annual "Take Action Against Domestic Violence" award to the Jennifer Beach Foundation. The Jennifer Beach Foundation is one of five organizations selected from a group of twenty nominee organizations. The award is presented to individuals, groups, businesses or organizations that have taken outstanding action to help end violence. Award winners have done something to raise awareness about domestic violence/child abuse, to help those dealing with it, or to help find solutions to the problem.

Accepted as a partner with local domestic violence task force

At the March 2006 meeting of the Covington Domestic Violence Task Force the members voted to accept the Jennifer Beach Foundation as a partner to help raise awareness of domestic violence and child abuse and neglect issues within the local communities. The Covington Domestic Violence Task Force is a member of the South King County Community Network. The community network is comprised of eight cities in south King County

Financial literacy program begins

The Jennifer Beach Foundation has partnered with the YWCA of South King County, Domestic Violence Services Division to create and present a Personal Finance Class for Victims of Domestic Violence. The class is intended to help participants get a better understanding of their personal finances. Teaching them how to better manage their resources helps reduce stress in the home and builds confidence in their ability to better manage other areas of their lives. The class meets for two and one half hours once a week for ten weeks. The first class that ended on June 6th had seven graduates. The second class, which had thirteen participants, graduated on November 14th. Funds for the program have been provided by the Allstate Foundation.
 
In addition to the YWCA program a Financial Literacy Workshop was held at the Domestic Abuse Women's Network site on August 22nd. Follow-up sessions are being set up to assist clients hoping to learn more about Credit Reports and how to repair past credit history problems.
 
The Jennifer Beach Foundation has also commenced discussions with Eastside Domestic Violence Program (EDVP) in Bellevue, WA to offer a program similar to the Personal Finance Class now being offered at the YWCA.
 
Grant received from the Fred Meyer Foundation
 
On September 28th, the Jennifer Beach Foundation received a $550 grant from The Fred Meyer Foundation. Funds from the grant will be used to help cover the costs of printing additional copies of the Bruised Inside & Out booklets.

Spanish version of Bruised Inside & Out completed

The Jennifer Beach Foundation is very grateful for the efforts of Danella and Janet, exchange teachers from Mexico City, Elizabeth Valdiva of Green River Community College and Consejo Counseling and Referral Services in translating the poem Bruised Inside & Out into Spanish. Printed copies of the poem should be available by the end of 2006. We are looking for donations to help us with this project. Donations can be identified specifically for this project. Recognition can be given to any individual, company or organization wishing to sponsor a specific quantity of booklets. Please contact us for more information.
 
Bruised Inside & Out now in poster format
 
After several requests, the Jennifer Beach Foundation now has the poem, Bruised Inside & Out in poster format. The poster is 12" x 18". Design and layout services for the poster were contributed by Castle Pacific Publishing. Printing of the first one thousand posters was donated by MultiCare of Tacoma, WA.
 
Community awareness program
 
In May and June 2006 the Jennifer Beach Foundation assembled a group of 13 volunteers to partner with the Covington Domestic Violence Task Force in a community awareness project where information packets were presented to one hundred and fifty one businesses in the city of Covington. The packets included information on the meaning of domestic violence and child abuse and neglect as well as actual incident statistics provided by local law enforcement and a listing of local resources for those in need. Articles to help employers faced with domestic violence in the work place were included. Each business was asked to display a laminated 8.5" x 11" Domestic Violence Has No Place In Our Community placard. The placard contained the Crisis Line telephone number for the Domestic Abuse Women's Network (DAWN). 

Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence extends invitation to Jennifer Beach Foundation

The Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence invited the Jennifer Beach Foundation to participate in an Economic Justice Panel discussion at their annual conference meeting in Wenatchee in September. The panel participants shared their efforts and experience in developing creative ways to help victims and their families to manage their financial resources effectively. Approximately 50 members of the Coalition from Washington and Idaho attended the panel discussion in hopes of getting ideas for creating programs in their local areas.

Student board of directors

The Jennifer Beach Foundation is in the process of forming a Student Board of Directors. The SBOD will be made up of representatives from high schools. The SBOD will provide an opportunity for students to serve their community by helping with awareness projects, classroom presentations, fund raising events and other volunteer activities. Decatur High School, Federal Way, Washington is the first school to sign up. Please contact us if you are interested in participating in this program.

Cell phone Call To Protect program

The Jennifer Beach Foundation has partnered with The Wireless Foundation (a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization) to participate in their CALL TO PROTECT: Wireless Phones for Domestic Safety Program. Through this program donated cell phones are reprogrammed to dial 911, providing a lifeline to victims of abuse when faced with a life-threatening crisis. This is an ongoing program for us. We would greatly appreciate the donation of any cell phones that you no longer use and may be collecting dust in a closet or drawer somewhere. Tax receipts are available to donors. Please contact us for more information or just send your phone(s) to us.

More details...

New programs

In addition to our new Financial Literacy programs the Jennifer Beach Foundation has identified three other areas where we feel we can make a contribution to the community. These areas include:

• parenting skills training
• teen violence awareness and training, and
• mandatory CPS reporting information.

It is our intent over the next few months to partner with other agencies in developing and delivering these programs.

More appearances

The Jennifer Beach Foundation would like to extend the number of speaking engagements and appearances. If you are interested in hearing more about the foundation’s goals and activities, we would be happy to come and speak to your group or have our booth at your event. Please contact us at 253-630-7193 for scheduling.

Copyright © 2006 Jennifer Beach Foundation

Jennifer Beach Foundation
PO Box 7036
Covington, WA 98042
Telephone (253) 630-7193
Fax (845) 853-1355
Email: info@jnbfoundation.org
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