Question 1: How does it feel to have spent 25-years at Crisis Center North?

Answer: It truly goes faster than you think! It has been a true opportunity to have a position where you can make a difference in transforming peoples’ lives. During my time, I have enjoyed a supportive board and agency culture supportive of creativity. This ability to be creative is what has truly kept me at CCN for so long, the ability to treat the work as a science lab, always experimenting to make better outcomes for survivors!

‍

Question 2: What is your favorite memory from CCN?

Answer: I don’t have a specific favorite memory, many are interwoven. What I can say is that the favorites aren’t about any milestone or awards or big moments. The best memories surround the smaller moments and daily triumphs.

‍

Question 3: What do you think makes CCN special and how have you helped to make it so?

Answer: I think what makes CCN special is our focus on quality work. I never wanted us to be the biggest or brightest star in the firmament. I just wanted to know every day we made a difference in the lives of those we touched, and that we did so to the best of our abilities. Concerning how I helped to shape the Center, the founders of the organization told me that I took the organization to heights and places they never thought it would go when they formed the organization with a budget of $13 around their kitchen tables. I think my role is that I believed in the organization’s potential and possibility. I will continue to believe in its possibility long after I go.

‍

Question 4: What did you accomplish at CCN that you never expected?

Answer: Many things! I never thought I would serve as a domestic violence expert for the Depp v Heard trial. I never thought I would meet two different U.S. presidents and advocate to them directly for national domestic violence funding. I never thought I would find shelter dogs and develop them as working dogs, giving them lives of meaning. I also never thought I would have the opportunity to not just do the work at CCN, but also know we were making an impact due to a research partnership with Pennsylvania State University. It has been 25 years of unexpectedness!

‍

Question 5: What has been your biggest accomplishment?

Answer: To get an honest answer, you would need to ask other people than myself to see what they felt the impact of the work was in their lives. As a self-assessment, I have challenged the boundaries in the field of domestic violence services, opening new avenues for the field to pursue such as research initiates and utilization of canines as a trauma informed tool.

‍

Question 6: What has changed at CCN since you started, and what has stayed the same?

Answer: I have had the rare opportunity to see both the grassroots beginnings of the Center and its future. I came to the Center at an interesting time, as it was transitioning from a grassroots to professional organization. Both sides have their positives and negatives. I miss the grassroots though, the women who did the work without pay and at considerable personal sacrifice to their families, those women who carried a passion for helping survivors that was unmatched. Professionalization has allowed survivors a much greater menu of services, but sometimes the work is viewed more as a profession than a calling. Though much has changed, the Center’s commitment to survivors and breaking the cycle of violence has remained constant.

‍

Question 7: What would you tell new advocates who want to make a career in the DV movement?

Answer: Take your interest and do something real with it. For plants to grow you have to put your hands in the soil. You need to do more to talk. We need more people to put their hands to making their community a better, safer place. It's harder than you think it will be, but if you stick with it the rewards are greater than you think possible.

‍

This article and more is included in Crisis Center North's Spring 2025 Newsletter, available for download here!