Will County Gazette

Village of New Lenox Safe Communities America, Domestic Violence Prevention Task Group met May 8.

Here are the minutes provided by the group:

CALL TO ORDER

This meeting was held via Zoom videoconference. Dan Martin called the meeting to order at 10:32am.

IN ATTENDANCE

The Domestic Violence Prevention Task Group Members in attendance were Dan Martin / Village of New Lenox, Meaghan South / Trinity Services Family Counseling Center, Ariel Ruttenberg / New Lenox Police Department, Olga Viano/ New Lenox Community Park District, Breann Fisher / Guardian Angel Community Services, Penny Eriks / Silver Cross Hospital, Amirrah Abou-Youssef / Family Violence Coordinating Council - 12th Judicial District, Jen Vujosevic / Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210, Marie Kress / The Kennedy Center for Counseling, Jan Dombrowski / H.E.R.O, Melanie Skach / Guardian Angel Community Services, Jennefer Hofferica / Nadine’s Blue Butterfly, Abby Gentile / Begin Within Therapy Services, Inc., Jenny Guiney / Guardian Angel Community Services, and Carole Cheney / Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The Minutes from the March 13, 2023 Task Group Meeting, which had been disseminated via email to Task Group members, were discussed. Jan Dombrowski made a motion to approve the minutes, which was seconded by Jennifer Hofferica. After no further discussion, the motion carried and the minutes were approved.

OLD BUSINESS

Collaborative Partners

The group welcomed Jenny Guiey from Guardian Angel Community Services. Also in attendance was some members from Will County Take Back the Night program and they were welcomed as well.

“Teen Dating Violence: What You Should Know to Support and Help Prevent”

This event was held on May 2nd from 6:00pm top 7:00pm in the Community Room at the New Lenox Village Hall. The group spoke about the event and how well it went. As always Breann Fisher did a wonderful job and the material was very important. The attendance for the night was 7 community members and 5 community partners. The group discussed some future brainstorming ideas for how to better market to teen parents, since that was what was lacking in the audience that night. Jen Vujosevic from District 210 spoke about a future messaging board that they will have for parents and teens who are part of the district and how the it will be digital to market the community events that happen. This will help keep the community connected to the school and students but also not overload the website for the school events that happen for the students. Amirrah Abou-Youssef and Meaghan South also spoke about posting future marketing to target where parents and teens may go, such as but not limited to, social community groups, bulletin boards at local restaurants or coffee houses.

NEW BUSINESS

“One Thing Speak Up, Speak Out: Elder Abuse” - October 2, 2023 from 6pm to 8pm The event planning was discussed during this meeting. This is where the group was introduced to some of the members of the Will County Take Back the Night Board Members. The group spoke about the partnership and what is left to discuss for the event. The topic will be on Elder Abuse and how to prevent it, what it looks like, and what resources we can give the community. It will have a panel and group discussion from three partnerships. Both Amirrah and Carole will be handling the reach out for the event to the partnerships that have been recommended to speak as panelists. The date and time are set and a room has been booked at the New Lenox Village Hall by Dan Martin. From 6:00pm to 7:00pm will be a resource fair with tables and the panel and discussion will be from 7:00pm to 8:00pm. The planning committee will be headed by Ariel and the people who will be attending are Amirrah, Jenny G, and Meaghan.

GOOD OF THE ORDER / ORGANIZATION UPDATES

Marie Kress spoke about the Joliet Junior College hosting CEU events and that it is official and she has an email server now. If you would like to be on the mailing list please email her.

Amirrah spoke about a free “Lunch and Learn” Event on May 24th at 12pm via Zoom. The topic will cover two agencies and services they are providers for partner violence abuse programs. The two programs will speak about their services and what they look like and then the lunch and learn will end with the VA speaking about their partnership abuse program.

Ariel spoke about a fundraiser for the New Lenox Police department on Friday May 19th 2023 at 5am to 12pm is Cop on a Roof at Dunkin Donuts (two locations one off of Haven and the other is on Layaway Road) for benefits of Special Olympics.

NEXT MEETING DATE

The next meeting of the Domestic Violence Prevention Task Group will be Monday, July 10, 2023 / 10:30am via Zoom videoconference.

The next New Lenox Safe Communities Coalition Meeting will be held on May 31, 2023 at 10:30am via Zoom videoconference.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 11:12am.

Domestic Abuse Prevention Task Group

“To reduce physical injuries and deaths, and emotional injury and hardships, associated with domestic violence, through the establishment of collaborative partnerships and the implementation of educational programs, strategies and initiatives.”

https://www.newlenox.net/files/documents/SafeCommunitiesAmericaTaskGroupsMinutes05-08-23053755053023PM1352.pdf