Author Archives: GreenHouse17 Staff

Following early planning meetings with the architect, funders, and construction management team, we began to prepare the shelter for the construction scheduled to begin on January 14.

Commitment to non-interruption of services.

We are committed to continuing operation of the emergency shelter and our 24-Hour Hotline, also housed at the facility, throughout construction. As with any project of this scale, some complications are expected.

Our leadership team has prepared information to notify community partners about changes to shelter accommodations and encourage standard shelter referral procedures during construction. And our community engagement team prepared information to advise supporters.

Readying the shelter for change.

Despite the likely challenges, we are motivated by the possibilities the shelter renovation will create for survivors in our community for many years to come.

Our Executive Director, Darlene Thomas, recently met with survivors living at shelter to gather input, answer questions, and provide assurance of our commitment to their safety and healing during construction.

The next day, shelter staff and residents began moving beds and dressers in the west wing of the facility to common spaces. Design decisions for these temporary bedroom areas considered confidentiality, privacy, comfort, and storage needs of survivors.

Continue reading about the shelter renovation project at this link.

This post is part of a series about the renovation of our emergency shelter.

With plans drawn up and budgets estimated for the project, attention turned to securing funding for construction. Documents were gathered and narratives written to develop our first grant application for support of the shelter improvements.

Meeting community need.

Goals for the renovation of the shelter were closely connected to community needs outlined in the Lexington-Fayette Consolidated Plan, an action plan developed through a participatory process to inform local allocations for funding received through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) formula grant programs.

The decision was made to submit our first application to LFUCG Grants and Special Programs for consideration. Following competitive review of the application and public hearings prior to award confirmations, we received notification of $420,000 received through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program.

Seeking and reviewing bids.

With the guidance of their grant administration team and continued support of EOP Architects, the competitive bid process meeting federal funding could move forward. The contract was awarded to Elaine Allen LLC, a Lexington-based construction management firm with past completed projects for GE, Toyota, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, University of Kentucky, and Cincinnati Zoo.

Meetings with the construction management team quickly began. Meanwhile, our staff worked together on planning to assure continued operation of the emergency shelter and 24-Hour Hotline, also housed at the facility, during construction.

Continue reading about the shelter renovation project at this link.

Kentucky artist Jessica Holly has created a beautiful original silk screen design that we will print on our Holiday Hope Box this season!

Each Hope Box will be
printed with Jessica’s art.

Working with our community is crucial to bringing awareness to intimate partner abuse, and each partnership forged is one step closer to ending intimate partner abuse. By engaging in conversations about the mission, you create the space for those experiencing abuse to step forward and seek safety.

Visit our Handmade by Survivors shop at this link.

This holiday season be a part of the change in supporting survivors by sending or gifting a Holiday Hope Box. Each box gifted directly supports the survivors we serve. 

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.

___________

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. :)