Author Archives: GreenHouse17 Staff

Sharon Price, Executive Director of Community Action Council, is celebrating phenomenal women across Kentucky who make no apologies for their perspectives.

Darlene Thomas, our Executive Director, recently was nominated to be interviewed by Sharon and share her story about advocating for survivors of intimate partner abuse. Bits of the interview have been captured here, with the full interview video available.

Finding the Mission

I started doing this work about 32 years ago in western Kentucky, Louisville, and then there was an opportunity to start this program in Lexington 17 years ago.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to go to college…When I graduated, my friend called me to say they were hiring at the spouse abuse center. I didn’t even know about the spouse abuse center. How did I go through an undergraduate degree and not even learn about intimate partner violence? It just wasn’t a topic that was talked about then.

I was young, fresh out of school, and I was going to fix and change the whole world. I was really lucky there were women who took a risk with me. They mentored me and coached me. I was too big for my britches sometimes, and they didn’t let me be. They made me figure out what it meant to be in the work, and it was much bigger than me.

Mission Approach

The only way to work toward healing, for most survivors, to really know they belong to something bigger than themselves. We’re out in the country on a 40-acre farm and run cottage industries to capitalize on our strengths.

We grow flowers and make products. It’s our job to help survivors move from crisis to self-sufficiency based on their own journey — not based on what we think they should doing but what they believe they should be doing to figure out what their next steps will be.

The goal is to keep people safely in their community.

Kids need their school. Survivors need their work. They need to have their family, resources, and faith around them. But when not possible, that’s when shelter happens — when there’s no other safety mechanism — until we can figure out the next steps, get back your footing, and take back your power.

People living with us at shelter just start making their way to the farm. The kids are running and playing and riding their bicycles and feeding the horses. Next thing you know, mom is out there weeding and picking flowers and putting them on tables in the shelter. It just becomes this quiet way for people to process trauma.

Changing Systems

In order to change things, to make a better system for survivors to move from crisis to self-sufficiency, you got to be at the table to influence and policy and change.

My office is smack-dab in the middle of our shelter. I need to be around survivors. It’s what keeps me grounded in this work. The calling wasn’t to be an executive director. The calling really was to work with survivors in partnership to figure out how to continue to change systems to help protect and serve them.

I trust my instincts and my gut — and more than anything I trust survivors. When I’m going to go to the mats, I believe in it wholehearted. I can hear other opinions and learn from other people, but I can dig my feet in.

Trusting the Journey

I try to walk in the world and find people’s strengths and absorb them — and sometimes we learn what not to do — but I never take advantage of that. My core is survivors and their strength and their courage.

That’s what I carry and try to teach and help others in the field who want to do this work for a long time. You want people who believe every survivor is worthy of our time, and love, and dignity — until they learn they’re worthy of it.

Today I’m able to find the strength and the value and just meet people where they are. I also know where I am, and they begin. That’s not always true when you’re young in the field. You have a tendency to carry it, and it changes you.

You have to learn to integrate the pain and suffering of others but realize it’s not your outcome. Sometimes you have to just step back and let the journey happen. Every interaction has an impact on others.

Lifting Others

Every interaction has an impact on others. It’s so important to model and show and for every young woman to know their worth.

Unfortunately, the world teaches us that we have less value based on our skin color or gender… We have to lift young women up to know their worth and know they are loved. We have to stick together.

In this second post from the Summering with GreenHouse17 series, Chelsey learns how to make chile rellenos.

In my third week I was able to shadow Chef Theo as he made lunch for the residents. We’re very lucky to have a chef who makes residents (and staff if there are leftovers!) lunch and dinner four days a week. A lot of the food comes from our garden on site.

Chile Rellenos was on the menu the day I shadowed. I had never had them before and let me tell you – it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten! Here are the basics of how our chef made the chile rellenos – there’s a link to the full recipe at the end from Isabel Eats!

“Wherever she went, people were captivated by her warmth, energy, wit and offbeat sense of humor.” 

We join thousands of nonprofit organizations and government agencies in calling on U.S. Senate leadership to bring the VOCA Fix (S. 611) to the floor for vote. 

Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding is in jeopardy. Millions of victims rely on the non-taxpayer source of funding for services to find safety, healing, and stability in the aftermath of abuse. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the VOCA Fix (H.R. 1562) with more than 90% of votes to sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act. Now it’s the Senate’s turn.

Wait – VOCA isn’t funded by taxes?

No, it’s a non-taxpayer sources of funding. President Ronald Reagan signed The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) into law and established the Crime Victims Fund in 1984. Millions from federal criminal fines and penalties are deposited into the fund each year, and these dollars are granted to public and nonprofit service providers to provide supportive services for victims of crimes.

Why is a fix needed?

Deposits to the Victims of Crime Fund have declined in recent years — and it’s not because of a reduction in crime. A change to how crimes, particularly white-collar criminal cases, are processed is to blame. Increased use of deferred and non-prosecution practices has diverted millions from the Crime Victims fund this fiscal year.

Although resulting in monetary penalties, funds collected from deferred and non-prosecution practices are deposited into the General Treasury. It’s estimated billions of dollars that would’ve supported services for victims have not been deposited into the fund in recent years — only because of how the crimes were processed.

What’s at stake for victim services in central Kentucky?

Reduced deposits mean the Crime Victims Fund is not being replenished. Drastic cuts already have devastated many victim service providers. Without the VOCA Fix, organizations like ours could experience catastrophic funding losses.

VOCA funding supports the operation of our region’s 24-hour crisis hotline, 42-bed emergency shelter operation, safe exchange/visitation, and almost every advocacy service we provide for victims of intimate partner abuse. This is a crisis for victims.

The Senate can turn this around.

The VOCA Fix is a no-cost solution to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021 (H.R. 1652 / S. 611) by amending law to deposit penalties and fines from non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements into the Crime Victims Fund.

Thank you to Miss Vivian Leigh for sharing her time and talent to support survivors living at the shelter.

Vivian performed as part of our summer Farm Songs series for survivors and their children. It was a beautiful evening of music and storytelling. Farm Songs is a private weekly event series organized by advocates on our staff to bring local music to survivors this summer — from the safety and confidentiality of the emergency shelter. Vivian recorded her performance, and we’re so exited to share it with you here.

As central Kentucky begins the transition to post-pandemic practices, we’ve decided to delay LUNAFEST Lexington until next year.

LUNAFEST Lexington has raised awareness and funding to support our services for survivors of intimate partner abuse for more than a decade.

Last year’s event coincided with the early pandemic response, and planning quickly shifted to accommodate a virtual model. Although participants enjoyed watching the films from the safety of their homes, much has changed during the past few months.

“Most everyone is talking about virtual fatigue and a longing for human connection.”

“Hosting a remote event while social distancing and mask mandates are expiring just didn’t make sense this year,” explains Darlene Thomas, our Executive Director. “At the same time, organizing an event for hundreds of people to gather in one space didn’t seem right either.”

After considering many options, the difficult decision was made to delay LUNAFEST Lexington during the transition toward post-pandemic practices. Instead, planning already has begun for an extra-inspiring event in 2022.

“The longtime support of event sponsors and attendees matters so much to our mission.” says Thomas. “The evening is one of my favorite of the year, and I’m already looking forward to reconnecting in person at the historic Kentucky Theater.”

LUNAFEST is a national traveling film festival established in 2000 by LUNA®, Makers of the Whole Nutrition Bar for Women.

We are grateful to be among 21 national recipients of a $6,000 award from The American Land Title Association (ALTA) Good Deeds Foundation. All Kentucky Title, LLC nominated our services for the award.

“Our members are, and always have been, extremely involved members within their communities,” said ALTA CEO Diane Tomb. “Grants from the ALTA Good Deeds Foundation will amplify the tremendous giving and service that our members and these organizations provide around the country.”

The launch of the ALTA Good Deeds Foundation has been met with tremendous support and involvement from our members,” said Foundation Board Chair Mary O’Donnell, president and CEO of Westcor Land Title Insurance Company. “The title insurance industry has always been an integral part of their communities and we are proud and excited to support and build upon their efforts.”

This generous award will support 24-hour crisis intervention, emergency shelter, support groups, legal advocacy, housing assistance, and other services to create safety and healing for intimate partner abuse survivors in the 17 counties we serve.

“If we want to be helpful, then we need to be in partnership.”   

When Pastor Mark Davis moved from Boise, Idaho to begin his role at First Presbyterian Church of Lexington 10 years ago, he asked the search committee to connect him with a few of our community’s leaders.  

Former Fayette District Court Judge Lewis Paisley suggested Darlene Thomas. In the years since those meetings, Pastor Mark has led the congregation in meaningful survivor support.  

One example, Music for Mission, is an annual philanthropic concert series organized by the church to support our services and other nonprofit organizations. The recent concert, held online for social distancing, featured local musicians performing John Lennon’s most popular songs.  

The day after the pandemic was declared a national emergency, Pastor Mark reached out to ask what would help most. Church members also organize a holiday gift drive for children living at the shelter and donate Thanksgiving food baskets for families living in transitional housing.  

“The way we worship calls us to justice and to nurture,” explains Pastor Mark. “If we want to be helpful, then we need to be in partnership.”