|
HEATHER AVEY Staff Writer Guymon Daily Herald
Tickets are now available for the Northwest Domestic Crisis Services, Inc. (NWDCS) annual fundraiser, The 12 Days of Christmas. This year they have 57 prizes that are worth more than $2,914.50, with six grand prizes – including a T-shirt autographed by country singer Martina McBride. NWDCS is a respected agency that provides vital protection services for adult victims and their children of domestic violence and sexual assault. The agency serves the largest area in the state of Oklahoma, covering approximately 13,300 square miles in the ten northwest counties including Alfalfa, Beaver, Cimarron, Dewey, Ellis, Harper, Major, Texas, Woods and Woodward Counties. The NWDCS agency has offices open in three locations, Woodward, Guymon and Alva. The main office is located in Woodward, with satellite offices in Guymon, and Alva, with two shelters for victims and their children of domestic violence and sexual assault. The Guymon office covers all of the Oklahoma Panhandle and operates a shelter with four bedrooms and a capacity for 20 people. The shelter is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year round with a 24-hour hotline. Their doors are never closed and they never refuse services to anyone because of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap. All clients’ phone callsBy HEATHER AVEY Staff Writer
Tickets are now available for the Northwest Domestic Crisis Services, Inc. (NWDCS) annual fundraiser, The 12 Days of Christmas. This year they have 57 prizes that are worth more than $2,914.50, with six grand prizes – including a T-shirt autographed by country singer Martina McBride. NWDCS is a respected agency that provides vital protection services for adult victims and their children of domestic violence and sexual assault. The agency serves the largest area in the state of Oklahoma, covering approximately 13,300 square miles in the ten northwest counties including Alfalfa, Beaver, Cimarron, Dewey, Ellis, Harper, Major, Texas, Woods and Woodward Counties. The NWDCS agency has offices open in three locations, Woodward, Guymon and Alva. The main office is located in Woodward, with satellite offices in Guymon, and Alva, with two shelters for victims and their children of domestic violence and sexual assault. The Guymon office covers all of the Oklahoma Panhandle and operates a shelter with four bedrooms and a capacity for 20 people. The shelter is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year round with a 24-hour hotline. Their doors are never closed and they never refuse services to anyone because of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap. All clients’ phone calls and names are kept confidential. Guymon’s office was opened in August 1993 to serve the three Panhandle counties, Texas, Beaver, and Cimarron. Since opening the Guymon office, they have served 1,146 clients. Over the past 10 years 9 months, since the shelter was opened, more than 600 women and children have been housed in the shelter. In fiscal 06-07, they served 88 active clients and housed 62 people in the shelter. Of those 29 were abused women and with their 33 children were housed a total of 1,456 days in the shelter, or an average of 23.5 days for each person in the shelter. They managed 269 Crisis Calls answered on the Hot Line, of those 153 were Domestic Violence, 16 were sexual assaults; S.A.N.E. trained staff attended four sexual assault exams in the hospital emergency room; and assisted battered clients with filing 13 Ex Parte Orders of protection to restrain their abuser from further violence; and the staff supervised 163 referrals to other agencies as needed. Client services include: shelter, transportation, a 24-hour hot line, individual counseling, group support counseling, court advocacy, community education and awareness programs, rape response advocacy; children’s service and social service advocacy. New this year is a Batterer’s Intervention Program for abusers. Not only do they supply shelter, they also supply food, clothing, shoes, and personal care items. If the clients decide to relocate away from their abuser, they give them donated furniture, linens, dishes, household goods, food baskets, clothing and other necessities to start a new life, in an abuse free home. Other services provided by Guymon NWDCS include several funds set up with community donations and the 12 Days of Christmas fund raiser to assist clients with various needs. Funds set up are the client fund to help clients with immediate needs; travel fund to provide bus fare to clients, who must leave the area due to danger from a spouse or partner; the medical fund to help pay minor doctor fees and medications for clients; the playground fund to provide playground equipment for the shelter; the school supply fund to furnish the children with supplies for school; and a santa fund, was set up to purchase Christmas gifts for survivors and their children of domestic violence and sexual assault, who would otherwise not have gifts for Christmas. Tickets will be $1 each, 6 for $5, 13 for $10, 27 for $20.00, 55 for $40, 70 for $50 or 150 for $100. Call or come by the office to get your tickets from NWDCS staff. Daily winners will be announced on the KGYN Coffee Shop Show by Richard Rhyther, 1210 on the radio. The show starts at 10:05 a.m. to 10:35 a.m. Winners will also be listed daily in the Guymon Daily Herald. NWDCS is located at 1106 N. Ellison, Guymon, OK 73942 and can be reached at 580-338-2780 or 580-338-7081. |
