Interview with Laura Horsley | Eve’s Place
We were so pleased to have the Executive Director of Eve’s Place with us for our Blog Talk Radio Show last month. This month, on February 29th, we’re pleased to announce that we’ll have Councilman Sal DiCiccio on the show, to get his point of view on how he works as an advocate within the Arizona government to keep this vital funding in place.
You can join us for the show live or you can always listen to the recording from the website at your convenience. Here’s the link to the last show with Dr. Terry Munther, Tom Loegering and Laura Horsley.
Interview with Laura Horsley on Blog Talk Radio
1/25/12
Eve’s Place is a program that provides emergency shelter services – will be 7 years old in April. We’ve been there for 5 years. It started out as grassroots volunteer organization within a church who thought there should be a place for women to go in the Northwest valley instead of Phoenix. A few women got together and had focus groups in the community and formed a Board and off they went. They had a plan and a goal. I joined the organization when it was 2.5 years old – opened first thrift store and 12 beds, 8 employees. State funding was a game changer – hired formal staff and went from 12 to 38 beds in 7 months. There was quick growth in the beginning and then leveled out, before the economy started struggling; lost $200K in the course of a year. We have to constantly re-evaluate our goals, as highlighted in Tom’s book. 7 Board of members are awesome, constantly looking at new ways to serve the community. We are different than most programs – don’t have a huge facility and we co-mingle with the community and it works better for our residents. They feel like home and many come with not many of their belongings, transition to our new home, and then move on to their new lives. Staff is very welcoming, and the apartment complex is very supportive to our residents. Families re-bond and restructure in a safe environment. We try to bring in folks to teach residents new ways to do things in their lives – whether it’s success, better parenting, providing pet therapy for the children, or how to be successful in their lives. We’re going to be adding AA groups onsite, so we’ll have a well-rounded program and resources to provide the ways for them to eliminate what caused their issues that landed them there.
A little about Eve’s Place funding and how is Board elected. 2 Original members are still with us; we are actively recruiting members. Right now we’re looking for certain individuals – banking individuals, people with monetary resources. The process of recruiting new members involves an application process and they meet with the board to see if they’re a good fit or not. Tom: If they’re interested, how do they contact you? Contact the office at 623-547-6175.
Funding through the Dept. of Economic Security is primary funding. 2.5 years ago contract with Dept. of Public Safety came through from them. Have 2 thrift stores to help supplement income – heavily reliant on State funding so we needed to adapt by trying new things like the thrift stores. Call 623-547-6175 to contact if you’re interested in assisting. Website @ www.safetyatevesplace.org has information about donations and how to donate items or money. Schedule a pick up for large items – call office for info.
Many of the residents are trying to work on continuing education or GED’s so they can get a better job position. Tom: How are you addressing these educational needs? Partner with groups, FreshStart and other programs that give training on Resume writing, job interview skills. We appreciate Tom coming out weekly to mentor the residents. This is a priority to most of our residents, to expand their skills and education so that they can stand on their own two feet. They have no idea where to start, so it’s valuable that you’re helping them with resources and making those contacts.
The main objective of the class from the book is to get them to write down their goals and visualize them. Look into the future to see what they want to have vs. where they’re at now. Then make a plan on how they want to get there – what will it take to achieve …, how will I get to this goal… and work backwards from where you are now to what you want to achieve. The residents are dealing with mental struggles/anguish along with possible outward bodily injuries. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men become victims of domestic violence. They can only stay at the shelter in 4 months – imagine starting from ground zero and being sent out after rebuilding in 4 months. It’s hard for most of us to fathom. We are there for them to console them, motivate them, nudge them forward and give them our time and attention. They need basic necessities – a place to sleep, live, food to eat, a feeling of safety and someone to help me get on my feet.
Donations of regular household items we need times 6 for 6 units. Pots and pans, kitchen items…donate anything that you can. Also need volunteers, help with fundraising events, which are incredibly important to our budget. We need help with ideas and people to make them happen. We have volunteer training advocates. Legislators and police force need to hold offenders accountable with tougher punishments, to keep them away from those they harm, instead of the victims having to leave their lives. Contact legislators, both state and federal, to keep funding in place to assist these families.
If you’d like to help, you can also donate a book to a resident, or purchase one for yourself. For every book purchased of $20.00, $10.00 stays at Eve’s Place and the book stays with the victim when they leave the shelters. Employment numbers have jumped from 10% to 70% among our residents, so the book and the classes are helping and are a wonderful complement to our programs and resources.
Eve’s Place Interview | Blog Talk Radio
We were so happy to have Laura Horsley, Executive Director of Eve’s Place, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, as our guest on our Blog Talk Radio Show January 25th. She really shared a lot of information about Eve’s Place, their history and what their goals have, and continue to be. Listen in on this episode and find out how you can help families who have become victims of domestic violence.
I really enjoy facilitating my weekly classes and helping these adults focus on themselves and how they can change their situation and find a balanced, successful path in their lives. It gives me great joy – how can you help today?
Tom Loegering
Nominate Your Favorite Business Book Today
It’s Friday and another week has quickly slipped by. I struggle with the same things that you do – not enough time in the day, not enough hands to do everything that needs to be done and struggles with keeping my productivity at it’s desired level. How about you?
I wanted to let you know that my book ‘Success or Failure-The Choice is Yours!’ has been nominated for the Small Business Book Award for 2012. I’m excited and grateful for how many people have been helped through my book. Not only is it a valuable resource for those considering starting a new business, or already in business, but I’m using it to facilitate mentoring programs in my local community. I believe that givers get, what goes around comes around, Karma – whatever you want to call it.
I’m currently facilitating weekly classes at two local organizations who are helping victims of domestic violence turn their lives around and I feel so privileged to be doing so. It’s very satisfying to see someone who came in initially downtrodden and hopeless begin to start looking into their future as a survivor, instead of a victim. I have a favor to ask you, right now. Could you help me with these classes by purchasing and donating a book to the class participants? Currently we are using photocopies of pages from the book, to keep costs down since I’m providing the classes at no charge. It would mean so much if they could take an actual copy of the book with them when they leave the shelter, to help them continue on their path to success. Just click the ‘Donate’ button over on the right sidebar at the top and choose the number of copies you would like to donate. Your donation will help in two ways – purchasing a book for a class participant And all proceeds from my book (other than what is needed to cover printing costs) goes to programs that help autistic children.
Here’s just some of the feedback I’m getting from my classes:
I also offer Fundraising Opportunities for Non-Profits through sales of the book. Are you a non-profit who could use more money for their programs? Contact me today to find out how easy it is to get started selling ‘Success or Failure-The Choice is Yours!’. There is no direct selling involved and your group earns $10.00 for each book sold. A Promotional Flyer is provided to you with a special code for your group to use – you just have to distribute it. Contact me through our Contact Us Form or call 623-933-8401.
We’re doing great things through our Book – Join Us!
Tom Loegering, Author
Keeping Those New Year’s Resolutions
At the beginning of every year, we are faced with making those greatly anticipated New Year’s Resolutions. Each year we make them, then break them, don’t you agree?
If you are perfect, you don’t need to alter or change. Yes, at some level each person looks at some change that is needed. It could be personal, mostly weight related, or it could be behavior (stop smoking, start exercising, eat healthier). Sound familiar?
Each New Year we think of change. However, it doesn’t need to be that way if you have a written plan and set goals that can be measured.
An example of practical goal planning would be: you want to lose 12 pounds this year. That is a pound a month – easy yes? Well, put a plan together to accomplish this goal and an action plan with consequences for missing your target.
Start with where you are now – 200 pounds. In 30 days I will reach 199 pounds – I will check my weight on January 31, 2012. If I am not at that weight, I will buy a weight guide and vow to not eat more than 2,000 calories per day until I am at 199 pounds. I will check weight daily and will be 198 by February 29, 2012 or only eat 2,000 calories per day for all of March 2012. I will continue this regiment until my weight is at my doctor’s recommendation.
Any goal, whether it be health related, education, job seeking or retainment, starting a business or just living life, is best served by having a written plan with specific measurable goals. This allows you to fail fast and make corrections to help you achieve your target, pace yourself, evaluate, reevaluate and learn from your mistakes to achieve all that you can conceive.
Thanks for stopping by and I’d love to hear your thoughts on what would make it easier for you to keep your New Year’s goals. Wishing you a successful, healthy and happy 2012!
Tom Loegering
Author
Conflict – How Do You Deal With It?
I’d like to discuss an uncomfortable subject in this week’s post, but it’s something that just can’t be avoided. Conflict – it’s almost as powerful of a word as one of those four letter kinds! We all hate it, try our best to ignore it, but it just won’t stay out of our lives. We have conflict at home with our family and then we go to work and most likely deal with conflict there also. So what can we do about it?
We need to face conflict head on and look into its beady eyes! To begin dealing with conflict means that we must understand the role that it plays in our lives, both at home and at work. Then you must assess your own personal conflict style.
Let’s start by identifying areas where we are anticipating conflict – that particular co-worker that makes you crazy on a daily basis, or perhaps your teenage daughter or son who loves to push your buttons. Once you identify the areas of conflict, then you can work towards finding solutions for successfully navigating through them. Most likely, you will not be able to remove them or even totally eliminate them, so you need to create strategies to work through them.
Conflict Considerations
- What is your definition of conflict?
- How do you feel when you are in a conflict situation?
- Is conflict a part of your life?
- Grade your interpersonal relationship skills (be honest!)
- Do you avoid conflict like the plague?
Watch this quick video for an explanation of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument and the different conflict styles we’re discussing here. The video’s a little rough, but it is interesting.
Conflict Styles
Competing – assertive and uncooperative. You try to satisfy your own concerns at the other’s expense in order to ‘win’.
Accommodating – unassertive and cooperative – the opposite of competing. You sacrifice your own concerns to satisfy the other person’s.
Compromising – partially assertive and partly cooperative. You look for an acceptable settlement that only partially satisfies both your own and the other person’s concerns.
Avoiding – unassertive and uncooperative. You try to sidestep or postpone the conflict, satisfying neither person’s concerns.
Collaborating – assertive and cooperative. You try to problem-solve to find a solution that completely satisfies both your concerns and the other’s.
Do you see yourself in any of these descriptions? Here’s another quick video on how dealing with conflict affects you overall.
A Few More Considerations
- How do you usually respond to conflict? Is it different depending on the power and position of the person the conflict arises with?
- How does your conflict style fit in with your values?
- Are there scenarios where you know your conflict management style will cause serious issues for you, yet you can’t seem to change?
- Set a goal for finding a more balanced conflict management style. Which one would it be?
- How can conflict management improve both your business and home life?
- Will things continue on an even keel if you don’t change your conflict strategies, or will they get worse?
Corporations have done studies and have statistics proving how much time and money is lost from employee turnover due to improper conflict management. What would the ability to deal more effectively with conflict mean to you?
Share your conflict management strategies with us and join the conversation. Thanks for stopping by and reading.
Tom Loegering
