Author Archives: GreenHouse17 Staff

Corissa Phillips, CFRE
Operations Director

CFRE International has named our Operations Director, Corissa Phillips, a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE).

Individuals granted the CFRE credential have met a series of standards set by CFRE International which include tenure in the profession, education, and demonstrated fundraising achievement.

It requires a rigorous written examination testing the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of a fundraising executive, and recipients agree to uphold Accountability Standards and the Donor Bill of Rights.

“I am proud of the credential’s focus on ethical fundraising practices,” says Corissa. “This certification reflects our organization’s longstanding commitment to accountability in every aspect of our mission to end intimate partner abuse.”

Corissa brings 20 years of nonprofit administration to her grant management, fund development, and communications responsibilities at our organization. She earned her MA degree from the University of Louisville and BFA from Indiana State University. 

The CFRE certification program is accredited by the American National Standards Institute and is the only accredited certification for fundraising professionals. 

Few renovations beyond cosmetic improvements were necessary in 2005 when we moved into the 17,000 sq ft facility previously occupied by Bellewood Presbyterian Home for Children in rural Fayette County.

Considering possibilities.

After several years of providing shelter services from the facility, opportunities to improve the safety, confidentiality, and services for survivors had became apparent. And additional shelter capacity is desperately needed to meet increased demand and changing needs of intimate partner abuse survivors in our community.

The vision for the renovation began three years ago during a shelter visit with staff from EOP Architects, the Lexington-based firm known for the Kentucky International Convention Center Renovation and Rupp Arena Reinvention. With their guidance and professional support, provided in-kind without fees, a plan began to take shape.

Identifying solutions.

Discussions were informed by Building Dignity, a best-practice guide to design strategies for domestic violence shelters. Our conversations explored how our shelter facility influences policies and practices, what survivors and their children find challenging about the facility, and how the building could support our mission more effectively.

The following solutions to challenges were identified.

1.) Increase shelter bed capacity.
2.) Improve safety & confidentiality for adults and children in shelter.
3.) Improve use of shared spaces in the facility. 
4.) Maximize efficiency of staff work spaces.

Community gathered today to support the launch of the Children’s Safe Exchange and Visitation program in Lexington-Fayette County. We undertook responsibility for the program in Lexington and Georgetown, Kentucky following the closure of Sunflower Kids on March 1, 2018. In the months since, funding partnerships were forged and service referral partnerships strengthened to assure continuation of these vital community services.

“Both the public and private sectors have stepped up to help,” says Darlene Thomas, our Executive Director. “Community leaders understand these services are vital to public safety and well-being.”

Financial support for the new program has been provided by LFUCG Department of Social Services, through the Department of Special Grants and Programs, and the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. AU Architects provides generous in-kind support with the donation of the program’s Lexington office. Partnerships with Lexington Police, Georgetown Police, Friend of the Court, Family Court judges, and program participants have informed the transition.

The program’s services will nurture lives of young people who have witnessed and/or experienced intimate partner abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, stalking, or other related issues. Non-custodial parents will be charged a nominal fee based on a sliding scale, typically not more than $10 weekly. In most instances, both visitation and exchange services are court ordered.

Visitation services are provided in a safe, monitored space to encourage healthy visits between a non-custodial parent and child(ren). Safe exchange of child(ren) from the custodial to non-custodial parents is facilitated without contact between the adult parties. More than a hundred children and adults in Lexington have benefited from the program since the “soft-launch” of the program in mid-May. Services in Georgetown, Kentucky are expected to begin soon.

We continue to seek additional funding to support estimated annual costs to operate the program in the Lexington-Fayette community and Georgetown. Discussions have begun to consider possibility for expansion of the program to other communities in the organization’s 17-county service area.

“Children deserve connection and bonding without worrying about conflict, intimidation, control, and further abuse. We are committed to assuring these services remain available throughout our central Kentucky region.”

Learn more about the program and review FAQs at this link.

As a nonprofit organization, our work is guided by our Board of Directors. These volunteers from social, financial, legal, creative, and other professional sectors give hundreds of hours of time to our mission during their three years of board service. And most of our board members renew their services for the second three-year term allowed by our by-laws.

How do you say thank you for so many years of commitment to supporting survivors?

Darlene Thomas, our Executive Director, was looking for a way to honor retiring board members with a small gift that reflected our gratitude for their service. The vision was a gift that would matter for a long time. Something special. Something more personal than a logo desk clock or paper weight.

That’s when she met Rachel Savané, founder of Savané Silver in Lexington.

Rachel creates beautiful handmade silver jewelry featuring gemstones thoughtfully chosen for each piece, and part of her business model includes supporting local charities and nonprofit organizations like ours. After meeting with Darlene to explore our organization’s services and philosophies, Rachel personally created the design for our organization’s board service gift.

Each pendant or tie tack showcases a hand-selected purple stone that represents the color of domestic violence awareness. Next comes a silver design to complement the individual qualities of each gemstone. Rachel shares more about her creative process on her website.

“I create my jewelry designs drawing inspiration from each carefully chosen fine gemstone, while combining curvalinear silver to create a distinct melodic energy in each piece as I inject design in every element of the jewelry often manifesting new functionality.”

The Connection to Our Mission

Rachel’s care and creativity makes each piece of Savané jewelry unique. In many ways, her approach to design echoes the way we approach services. We believe every survivor’s story is different, and every survivor deserves support to meet their individualized, self-determined healing goals.

We are proud to present our retiring board members with a local, unique, and beautiful gift that honors their commitment to ending intimate partner abuse.  Thank you, Rachel, for creating beauty and supporting organizations like ours.

To learn more about Savané Silver, visit the website or call 859-455-8111 for showroom hours.

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The image featured is from Kristen Kennedy, former member of our Board of Directors.

Y’all. These words are powerful ones for us today.

We are so sorry to announce that this Saturday’s drop-in “Open U-Pick” from 11 am – 1 pm has been canceled.

Our farm and fields sustained some damage during the recent bad storms. Although we’ve been giving the flowers lots of love this week, we’re afraid there just won’t be enough for everyone.

Many stems and blooms were able to make it through the storm, so we still look forward to welcoming Early U-Pick ticket holders from 10 – 11 am.

Weather is always a risk for farm-based events, but canceling this Saturday’s open u-pick has been a really difficult decision to make. We hope you understand.

Please help us share this news with friends and family who were planning to attend.

#TLDR This Saturday’s open u-pick from 11-1 is canceled, but the ticketed “Early U-Pick” from 10-11 am is still on.

#HopeStillBlooms #HealingTakesTime #SupportSurvivors #endDV

This year, more than 100 children will attend area schools while living at our emergency shelter. Many parents and children living with us have left behind everything to establish safety. Your generous donation of these back-to-school supplies will nurture young lives.

• backpacks
• folders
• pencils and pens
• crayons, markers, and colored pencils
• glue sticks and bottles
• scissors
• pencil boxes
• loose leaf paper and spiral notebooks
• composition notebooks
• three-ring binders

Delivery of school supply donations to our shelter facility are appreciated before Wednesday, August 8.  If you need driving directions to our facility, please call 859-233-0657. For more information, send us a note from this link.

Parking fees at this year’s CRAVE Food + Music Festival will be donated to support survivors of intimate partner abuse!

Our friends at Event Parking Expert will be coordinating parking during the big event. And we’re helping them to identify some generous volunteers willing to help out during the weekend. If you are interested in lending a hand, please complete the short form below.

This form is just letting us know the days and times you are available. Look for an email a couple weeks before the event that will confirm your volunteer shift and other details. You might be required to participate in a short training session prior to the event.

Every volunteer will receive a free t-shirt and other perks. :)

Beautiful flowers are budding and blooming on our farm! Wandering the fields and exploring the hoop houses calms our spirits, while reminding us –  quite literally – to stop and smell the flowers.

That’s why we farm. We believe nature heals, inspires reflection, and encourages relaxation. Research suggests coloring has similar benefits. So, we’ve put together these coloring pages of flowers to share with you!

Click or tap on the images below to print coloring pages.

By the way, our Full Season Weekly Summer Flower CSA memberships begin soon, but there’s still time to sign up for Half and Quarter season shares. Every membership reminds survivors that our community cares about their well-being.  Learn more and sign up at this link.

Sunflower Kids, a local nonprofit  that provides supervised visitation and monitored exchange services, will cease operations on March 1, 2018.  Our agency, GreenHouse17, plans to assume delivery of these critical community services as soon as possible.

“It is our goal to provide immediate and long-term safety for survivors and their children,” says Darlene Thomas, GreenHouse17 Executive Director. “Safe exchange and visitation services are another way we can fulfill our mission.”

A press release issued by Sunflower Kids explains the federal grant from the Office on Violence Against Women in the Department of Justice that provided the majority of funding for the agency recently expired, leaving insufficient funds to operate. The fiscal crisis prompted the Board of Directors for Sunflower Kids to seek another nonprofit agency with the capacity, experience, and stability to assume these critical services.

The closing will affect offices in Lexington and Georgetown.

“We regret the lapse in service that will occur,” says Steven Stadler, Chair of Sunflower Kids’ Board of Directors, “but we will continue to work with GreenHouse17 to make the transition as smooth and quick as possible.”

GreenHouse17 will contact all clients formerly served by Sunflower Kids to arrange for continuation of services when operations resume.

Community partners, including Fayette Family Court, Friend of the Court, Lexington Fayette Urban County Government’s Department of Social Services and Division of Grants and Special Programs, the Lexington Police Department, and the Georgetown Police Department, are committed keeping families safe in the interim and after services resume.

“We have been working diligently to secure funding and figure out next steps to reopen services as soon as possible,” explains Thomas. “We look forward to the opportunity to serve these families in need.”

Clients with questions about visitation should contact their attorneys, if possible, or the court that issued the visitation order. Safety planning assistance is available 24-hours a day by calling 800-544-2022.

GreenHouse17 is a nonprofit organization committed to ending intimate partner abuse in families and its impact on the community. To learn more about our services, please visit this link.

This Valentine’s Day also is our 13th anniversary as a nonprofit organization. In celebration, we’ve created a few healthy relationship cards that you can share on social media to raise awareness and show some love.

Share one with your best friend, share one with your romantic partner, and share one for yourself!

Not sure how to share an image on social media? Here are a few options:

• The easiest way? Just tap or click on one of the social media icons at the top of this page to share all of the cards!
• If using a mobile phone or tablet, long tap on an image in the slide show and choose the “share” option.
• If using a desktop, right-click on the image in the slide show, choose “copy image,” go to your social media account, right-click in the post, and choose the “paste” option.

Graphics used in the design of these cards are licensed for reuse by vecteezy.com.