We are ever so lucky to have Ana take on the giant project of helping us raise money to build a second bathroom at our shelter! Ana has taken this on as her Gold Award Project for Girl Scouts.

Ana’s project is called “Building Bare Necessities” and she plans to raise between $7,000 to $10,000 in three to four months by asking for gift card donations from her friends, family, church, school  and our community. She plans to write letters to local businesses and corporations asking for donations. Ana will also work with the Associated Student Body at West Ranch to set up a drive to collect toiletries and other household bathroom items for our shelter.

Ana selected the DVC as her Gold Award project because, “I always love a challenge and a great way to learn new skills. Coming into this project I am not necessarily very handy; however, I know that after “Building Bare Necessities” I will have grown as a person, leader, and handy girl.”

Ana has been a Girl Scout since she was in the first grade. Ana is seventeen and attends West Ranch High School where she is the Captain of her Color Guard team.  Where does she find the time to do it all?

If you would like to help Ana with her project and help the DVC build a bathroom, you can contact Ana at adomvi@yahoo.com.

We want to give a HUGE thanks to Ana for taking on this ginormous project! The women and children that stay in our shelter will be so appreciative of having a second bathroom!

We know that times can be tough, and some days you just don’t think you can live another day because things at home or work are just so bad it feels like it will never get any better. We want you to know that there is help. Things can get better. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 if you need help, someone to talk to, or if you have someone close to you that you are concerned about and want to know how to be there for and help. The Lifeline is available at 1-800-273-TALK(8255). Please reach out and make the call. They are there to help.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

For other hotlines or resources, you can visit our website. We have several pages of resources available. On our Home Page, go to Get Help Now tab, then click Resources, and a list of resources will pop up. Everything from hotlines, domestic violence shelters, anger management classes, health services, homeless shelters, legal resources and other important local resources in the Santa Clarita Valley are available. If you need help, please seek help. There is always someone willing to help.

Our friends at HandsOn Santa Clarita have offered to build us a shed to store excess clothes and toiletries for the women and children that come to us seeking safety. In order to build the shed, we first need to raise $1,000 to purchase the materials. We’re more than half way there! Please consider making a donation today on our Go Fund Me page. We appreciate your support!

www.gofundme.com/dvcscv

We are preparing for our Clothesline Project on September 26th. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come out to the Savia Center to create a t-shirt. Each color shirt represents a different type of violence against women. By creating the shirts, it helps women and their friends and family through the healing process. By displaying the shirts on a clothesline, we are “airing out our dirty laundry” so people can see how much violence there is around us in our own community. This helps to raise community awareness about violence against women happening in our own backyard. On September 30th, the shirts will be displayed on a clothesline at College of the Canyons, Body, Mind, Wellness Resource Fair in the Honor Grove. Visit our  Clothesline Project event page on Facebook for more details.

We are starting the year off right by working with Golden Valley High School to offer a new program called Close2Home. We will be facilitating a leadership club within the school where we will teach the students (ages 13-18 years old) how to teach their peers about healthy relationships and how to look for and notice signs of teen dating abuse. Stay tuned for our updates about the program on our social media!

Sally Van Swearingen was our star dancer at Dancing With Our Stars on August 28th. Sally and her partner Willy scored a perfect 30 from the judges! They rocked their performance! Sally helped us raise $22,000 for the shelter and outreach center this year. Huge thank you to Sally for representing the DVC!

In August, the Domestic Violence Center of SCV was awarded a $15,000 grant from Blue Shield of California! We couldn’t be happier! This will certainly help us in maintaining our shelter and our Outreach programs. To find out more about the grant, you can read about it on our website.