It does happen here …
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month.
The Eastern Sierra is a long drive from the hustle and bustle of the big city, the crime and blight of urban areas, but not immune from it. Wild Iris Family Counseling and Crisis Center serving both Inyo and Mono counties explains on its website that one of the most frequently asked questions is if domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse happens here in “Vacationland.”
During the fiscal year 2013-14, Wild Iris received 1,666 hotline calls, saw nearly 600 victims of some sort of abuse and provided more than 70 nights of emergency shelter. Wild Iris counselors spent more than 8,000 hours working directly with clients in the same time period. “Domestic violence knows no boundary,” said Susi Bains, program director for Wild Iris in Mammoth Lakes. She said child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence are prevalent in all lifestyles, income levels, ethnicities and geography.
Unfortunately, rural areas don’t often have many resources to aid those in need.
To raise awareness and hopefully gain volunteers, Wild Iris is offering classes open to the public for certification to deal directly with victims and holding a film screening at its first ever, Hope OutLoud events in Mammoth and Bishop. (See subhead towarsd end of story). These events also coincide with October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
There are resources available to victims, but there is a shortage of volunteers and trained staff that have been trained to deal face-to-face with violence. This is not for lack of trying.
Bains said that the huge time commitment of the training is a deterrent for some volunteers. She said there’s no lack of people with the willingness and heart to help, but the training is long.
Wild Iris is offering a 66-hour qualified training open to the public. Training that will prepare a person to be an advocate/volunteer and work directly with victims of assault and violence. The training starts Monday, Oct. 26 but space is limited. For more information call the office at 760.873.6601 or go to wild-iris.org
The training could also be a first step for someone considering this kind of work as a career. It’s hands on, but it’s also a way to try out the waters of a job that can be very intense.
“It takes a certain kind of person and a certain level of maturity,” to work directly with victims, Bains said.
The training is open to everyone. While statistically, more men than women are the perpetrators of violence, this is exactly why male counselors can be the right fit. Bains said from a victim’s standpoint, to be with a male counselor who has a healthy view of relationships can give the victim insight into men altogether, and that not all men are the same.
Wild Iris has had male crisis counselors and volunteers in the past and welcomes newcomers.
Wild Iris also has some new board members and invited relative newcomers, Al Davis, Mammoth Lakes Police Department Chief and Mono County Sheriff Ingrid Braun for a formal hello and talk about response to situations, ongoing collaboration and specialized training for law enforcement to deal with sensitive situations, like child or sexual abuse and domestic violence.
Training for law enforcement in handling domestic violence is offered at the academy, Davis said, and the Sexual Assault Response Team, SART a collaboration between Inyo and Mono counties receive training, but additional training for officers has to be done out of town.
Davis told The Sheet, “There are no online courses offered. The training for SART is a 40-hour class and pretty intensive.” He added that all members of SART must complete the training before being part of the team. “Basic child abuse investigation is taught also, but cases are fully investigated by the MCIU (Mono County Investigators Unit) Detectives,” Davis said.
There are many dynamics to sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse and the training is specialized and unique, Bains explained. The specialized training does not translate well through a screen and has to be done in person. She added without this kind of training, “There is a potential to do more harm than good.”
For more information, to volunteer, or donate to Wild Iris call the Bishop office at (760) 873-6601, the Mammoth Office at (760) 934-2491 or go to wild-iris.org. The organization’s emergency 24-hour hotline is (877) 873-7384.
Hope OutLoud
Wild Iris’ inaugural “Hope OutLoud – Working Together to End the Cycle of Violence” event is coming to the Inyo Council for the Arts in Bishop at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 23. There will be a screening of, “ReMoved, Part Two.” The award-winning film focuses on a young girl, Zoe, removed from her family because of domestic violence and her story of trying to navigate the foster care system.
Susi Bains, Wild Iris coordinator in Mammoth, said she hopes the movie will bring attention to foster care and the desparate local need for more foster care familes and services.
Tickets are $15 but larger donations are accepted. Admission includes appetizers, wine or beer and a raffle.
To paraphrase the opening lines of the movie’s prequel, sometimes something hurts so bad, you forget about it, until someone reminds you, or shows you.
