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Coalition Connection
Your Weekly Source of News, Trainings, and Events
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Through a collective voice,
the WCADVSA is committed to provide leadership, education, and systems advocacy to advance social change and end violence.
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Welcome to your weekly edition of the Coalition Connection!
Not sure of the purpose of this newsletter? Click here to learn more. Are you having difficulty viewing this e-mail or do you feel like you are missing some of the information in the Connection? If so, click here for a few helpful hints.
We will highlight important information in this section each week that requires your action or attention. This week's highlights include:
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Opportunity
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WCADVSA Advocacy and Resource Director
Position Responsibilities include:
- Develop and implement activities based on the goals and objectives of current funding sources.
- Through an anti-oppression prevention and advocacy framework, research, develop expertise, and provide support, training, and technical assistance on advocacy/healing services and primary sexual assault prevention to individuals, DVSA programs, partners, and communities as appropriate.
- Supervision of WCADVSA prevention staff.
- Participate as a Wyoming Sexual Violence Prevention Council Steering Committee member.
- Collaboratively organize the annual Wyoming Conference for Violence Prevention & Response.
- Create and build partnerships with organizations and communities who share and/or intersect in the WCADVSA's mission to leverage activities through collective work.
- Participate in the WCADVSA's accomplice/aspiring ally strategic planning.
- With Administrative staff, ensure the overall coordination of training, technical assistance, policy development and public education activities of the organization.
- Participate in trainings as approved and all organization wide meetings.
- Maintain confidentiality as required by law.
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications include, but not limited to:
- Bachelor's degree in victim services, human services or a closely related field or an equivalent experience level. Three years related work experience in primary prevention and advocacy preferred.
- Understanding causes of violence rooted in racism and oppression as connected to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking with a strong commitment to ending violence and the marginalization of all peoples.
- Experience in social justice, systems advocacy, and social change work.
- Demonstrated commitment to approach work from an anti-oppression prevention
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WCADVSA Staff Attorney Positions
The WCADVSA Legal Project is funded through a grant received from the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program. The Legal Project has been funded by OVW since 1998 in competitive grant cycles. Two Staff Attorney positions and a Legal Assistant position are funded to complete the grant goals which include providing direct civil legal services on behalf of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking statewide.
Two positions are open - click below for complete position description, responsibilities, compensation and application process. Qualifications:
- Licensed to practice law in Wyoming.
- Knowledge of Wyoming courts, laws and procedures.
- Thorough understanding of family law, civil procedure, evidence, ethics and familiarity with criminal law.
- Understanding of issues and willingness to continue to learn about issues related to
domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault and a strong commitment to ending
violence against women. - Ability to provide professional, high quality and sensitive legal services to victims of
domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. - Ability to counsel and advise clients and provide referrals for people who are in crisis.
- Willingness and ability to work with people from varied backgrounds, cultures,
ethnicities and abilities. - Proficiency with computer and Internet technologies and software programs,
including Microsoft Word and Excel. - Ability to work with law office management databases, including ABACUS.
- Strong written and oral communication skills.
- Demonstrated ability to manage time, keep detailed statistics, evaluate progress and
adjust activities to complete work within established time frames. - Ability to handle multiple projects and work independently as well as collaboratively.
- Demonstrated team building, limit setting, problem solving, creative/analytical
thinking and organizational skills, including report writing and grant writing. - Demonstrated project management skills, including staff supervision.
- Commitment to collaboration, team-building and professional development of staff.
Submission review process will begin May 14, 2021
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Recruiting for a New Study on Men's Experiences of Partner Aggression
Researchers at George Mason University and Montclair State University are are recruiting men -- and anyone identifying as male -- for a new study on their experiences with aggression from their romantic partners.
If you are a man between the ages of 18-59 and have experienced aggression from a romantic partner at some point during your life, you may be eligible to participate in this study. We invite you to follow this link where you can complete an survey about your experiences. The survey takes about 20-30 minutes to complete, is under the direction of Denise A. Hines, Ph.D., George Mason University, and is being funded by George Mason University's College of Health and Human Services.
Please contact Dr. Hines at dhines2@gmu.edu or 1-703-993-2024, if you have any questions. Participation is completely voluntary and you can withdraw your participation at any time. IRBNet number: 1689545-1.
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RedRover's Grants for DV Organizations - Pet-friendly Programs
As a reminder, our grant opportunities include covering the cost of boarding while a survivor stays at a domestic violence shelter ( Safe Escape grants) to helping create pet-friendly housing programs ( Safe Housing grants). We're currently able to offer up to $20,000 for our Safe Housing grants which may be used to create pet-friendly spaces on-site or off-site.
The next round of applications for our Safe Housing grants are due May 15th and then again on October 15th.
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Our Work
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Survivor Storytelling Showcase 
As part of SAAM 2021, the WCADVSA has created a space on our website to honor and support survivors.
We serve to uplift the voices of survivors throughout their journeys toward healing. This space serves as a platform for survivors throughout Wyoming to share their experiences through storytelling and artwork. Below you will find the stories survivors share to heal from their trauma and inspire the change we need to end gender-based violence. From written word to photovoice - we hear you. We see you. We believe you.
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Silent Witness Initiative
Planning for the 2021 Silent Witness Ceremony is underway, and we are so excited to be working with Taneesa Congdon of the Sweetwater County YWCA The Center for Families and Children who will be hosting the 24th-year ceremony October 9 in Rock Springs..
A couple of notes and requests to help us in organizing the initiative:
1. The WCADVSA is responsible for the addition of new silhouettes to the exhibit. If you are aware of a DV homicide victim in your community that meets the criteria below, please share this information with Pam by June 18. We will connect with each program that submits information to discuss the process to connect with the family about inclusion into the exhibit. Criteria for inclusion in the Wyoming Silent Witness Initiative: - GENDER: Initiative focus is on women who have been murdered as a result of domestic violence.
- RELATIONSHIP: Spouse, ex-spouse, boyfriend or ex-boyfriend (established relationship), share a child or is pregnant by perpetrator. Other extenuating circumstances will be evaluated on a case by case basis.
- ASSOCIATED VICTIMS: Males who are murdered during a domestic violence homicide may be included on the Male silhouette with a small shield that includes their name and age at time of death.
- TIME FRAME: Crime occurred/or was prosecuted since 1985. (If crime or prosecution does not fall within the last ten years, the Silhouette may be added for 2 years then retired.) Silhouette cannot be added until there has been an adjudication of the case.
- CAUSE OF DEATH: Must have been a domestic violence homicide.
- OTHER: Women who have been murdered as a result of domestic violence in another state, territory or country who may or may not be a native of Wyoming but have family living in Wyoming requesting their loved one be included in the exhibit.
2. If you have updated contact information for Silent Witness family members, please share that with Pam. 3. We would love to have more involvement on the committee from program members, advocates, law enforcement, victim witness associates, etc. If interested in participating, please connect with Kristen. The role of the State Silent Witness Committee is to provide a state level voice and perspective for the Wyoming Silent Witness Initiative. The duties of the committee are to: - Be involved!
- Annually review and approve the Guidelines
- Select the annual host community
- Annually review the mission statement
- Attend the Silent Witness Ceremony each year to support programs and provide assistance the day of.
- The Division of Victim Services may be able to help with per-diem expenses for committee members.
- Host a call with the prior community, the committee, and the current community to open the dialogue, allow for initial questions to be answered.
- Host a call after the Silent Witness Ceremony for the committee to debrief and make a plan to stay committed to and increase involvement around the call to action.
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Funds to Reduce Education, Employment, and Job Training Barriers for Survivors
With support from The Allstate Foundation, the WCADVSA has funds to support education, employment, and job training barriers for survivors. These funds can be used to help support survivors in obtaining G.E.D.s, job skills training, certifications, licenses, continuing education, education/job-related supplies such as uniforms, tools, and/or other equipment, transportation-related support, etc.
If your program is offering training on the Allstate Moving Ahead Curriculum or other economic empowerment training, you may request funds to support and encourage survivor participation such as offering food and/or childcare during economic empowerment events and training or gas gift cards for survivors to get to the training).
Member programs may also inquire about offering scholarships to help support survivor participation in job training programs.
If you have any questions, please connect with Trish Worley.
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Monthly Program Call - May 4
During the early days of COVID, we were gathering daily to share issues and concerns effecting the operation of your programs and impact on your clients.
As the months rolled on, we decreased calls to weekly, then bi-weekly. As we begin the new year, we will be holding monthly program calls to provide a space for sharing and support. Calls will be at 1:00 pm on the first Tuesday of each month. The next call is scheduled for May 4.
As always, the Coalition staff is available anytime to answer questions or provide support to your program.
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Policy Updates
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Action: Contact Senators Barrasso & Lummis in the next week! 
Senators Lummis and Barrasso have not signed on to support this. If they refuse to co-sponsor VAWA, they should co-sponosor the VOCA Fix!! Use this toolkit to find sample telephone scripts, sample emails and more.
You can also submit an op-ed or a letter to the editor to your local newspaper to put very public pressure on them to cosponsor of S.611. Templates can be found in the toolkit. If you get an op-ed or letter to the editor published, please let us know so we can highlight it!
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Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced a bi-partisan Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021 (S. 1275), companion bill to bipartisan H.R. 2119 introduced last month! The bill is near identical to the FVPSA reauthorization bills introduced in the last Congress (S. 2259 and H.R. 5041). S. 1275 would:
- Increase the funding authorization level to $253 million to respond to very low per-program funding levels and adjust the current formula to increase access to FVPSA funds for programs not currently funded.
- Expand support for and access to culturally-specific programs by authorizing a new grant program to provide enhanced access to services for racial and ethnic minority populations.
- Strengthen the capacity of Indian tribes to exercise their sovereign authority to more fully respond to domestic violence in their communities by increasing resources for tribes, and authorizing funding for tribal coalitions, and authorizing the currently funded Alaska Native Women's Resource Center.
- Meaningfully invest in domestic violence prevention by increasing support for evidence-informed, community-based prevention demonstration projects and funding new initiatives that bring these approaches to more communities across the country.
- Create a new underserved populations grant program.
Click here to ask Senators Barrasso and Lummis to support this important bill.
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Brown Bag: Campus Victim Services Policy Update 
This interactive brown bag webinar on May 4 at 11:00 am, will provide an update of federal policies and funding legislation impacting campus victim service programs and student-survivors. NOVA will be joined by panelists from the Clery Center, NASPA and Ujima, Inc. to discuss navigating the evolving federal landscape of campus victim services including VAWA, VOCA, Title IX, and the Clery Act. We encourage all campus advocates and allied professionals to join us for this important discussion about legislation and policies impacting campus victim service programs and student-survivors in 2021.
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Wyoming Legislature Update
If you haven't yet signed up for Tara's almost daily action alerts when things get moving, please do. They're kinda fun. She also does a U.S. Congress one as well, but for now she's sending action alerts for both bodies to both lists:
Click here to sign up for our Wyoming Legislature Action Alerts email list-serve.
Click here to sign up for our U.S. Congress Action Alerts email list-serve.
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1. Voyeurism amendments - SF0087 - Follow-up bill from last year to continue with wording that will allow prosecutors to charge those who take photos under the skirts of strangers in grocery store parking lots and increase penalties for one employee who stored over 100,000 photos and videos on a USB drive in his desk.
Passed both House & Senate. House slapped on a bunch of amendments but a Conference Committee straightened them out on April 1. Should be on its way to the Governor soon.
2. Protective Order Amendments SF0075 - Allows Protection Orders to be stipulated. Judiciary committee added our amendment to make sure the orders were given the full force and effect as an order with a hearing.
Died. House did not concur with a Joint Conference Committee which deleted a damaging amendment that defeated the bill's purpose.
3. Unlawful Dissemination of an Intimate Image - HB0085 - One who knew or should have known that the depicted person had a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private and the depicted person did not expressly give consent for the image's dissemination is guilty of a misdemeanor. Unfortunately, the House Judiciary committee put an amendment on it to require the actor's harmful intent. We will try to fix once on the Senate side. Passed, On its way for the Governor's signature.
4. Crime of Bestiality HB0046 - makes it a misdemeanor to have sexual contact with an animal. There are exceptions for livestock industry. Passed the Senate and is on its way to the Governor for signature. We can significantly improve this bill in the future.
5. Slayer rule applied to joint ownership SF0066 - As a result of Darren Rowe murdering Deidra Rowe and their four pets, then killed himself on Feb. 15, 2020. This bill closes a loophole when an abuser murders their intimate partner. This bill would ensure probate and partner's property is not held up in probate battle with the murderer. When abuser kills partner first, the partner is considered "pre-deceased" and all kinds of problems have arisen.
On the way to the Governor.
6. Bias motivated crime HB0218 - Defines crime that harms a person or property. Requires criminal justice agencies to report monthly to AG's office. WCADVSA is an official member of Wyoming's Freedom From Hate Coalition for the concept of this bill. There is some pushback that it is not inclusive enough. We will listen to testimony.
An Interim Study will be formed to study further for 2021.
7. Anti-discrimination updates HB0183 - Adds gender identity and sexual orientation. Remember, the last reauthorization of the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) act was the first federal to expressly prohibit discrimination against these two classes. This bill provides exemption for what appears to be religious organizations whose "right of expressive association would be significantly burdened".
House did not consider for Introduction. DIED.
8. Incest Amendments SF0153 - Closes some loopholes that have been longstanding for years also improvements for child sexual assault and human trafficking, yet creates significant prison penalties.
Heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. Senator French moved the bill but there was no second.
No Interim Study, BUT Juvenile Justice is going to be part of the study. This topic fits right in.
House did not consider for Introduction. Died.
10. Minor sex traffic victims HB0210 - Prohibits a minor who engages in any commercial sex act from being criminally charged; specifying that a minor who engages in any commercial sex act is a victim of human trafficking and is an abused child. This bill passed the House in record time. An amendment was added that is not good and only allows victims under 18 the presumption that they are victims of trafficking. Died in Senate Committee.
Bills we watched die without much effort on our part:
1. Second Amendment Preservation Act - SF0081- seeks to nullify federal laws. Extremely wordy bill that confuses state law abiding citizens and residents of Wyoming and who may or may no longer be subject to firearm prohibitions in current federal law if they are subject to a state protection order of convicted of domestic assault. DEAD!!! 2. Repeal gun free zones and preemption amendments - SF0067- repealing gun free zones; providing for the carrying of concealed weapons as specified; clarifying that only the state legislature may regulate firearms, weapons and ammunition. DEAD!!!
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Monthly Policy Calls for Program Staff/Board/Volunteers Only
Tara Muir, our public policy director, will connect with all of you on federal and state policy issues! Usually 4th Fridays at lunch. All questions welcome.
May - update during Membership Meeting
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Training and Events |
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Wyoming Webinars, Training, and Events
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SAFV Task Force Spring Luncheon
When: Wednesday, April 28 11:45 am
Where: Pinedale Library, Lovatt Room
Topic: Engaging Boys & Men
Presenter: Bob Vines, Prevention Specialist for the WCADVSA
Most men are not abusers. Most men are appalled by stories of abuse. And most men want to do something about it, but they simply don't know where to begin. Bob seeks to provide men, and the men in your life, a gentle, positive nudge to take that first step in becoming a strong ally for all victims of abuse. From the words we use in front of the boys in our life, to the words we hear from our adult friends in our life, there are small ways we can begin to help others strive to become "Good Men" instead of society's definition of "Real Men."
Lunch catered by Heart & Soul Café - cost is $20.
Please RSVP by April 23 to 307-367-6305
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Free Victim Advocate Training
Join us for a full day of learning more about serving victims of exploitation April 28 from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm at the White Mountain Library in Rock Springs.
There will be 4 sessions throughout the day:
Session 1 - Understanding the Culture of Sex Trafficking
Session 2 - Victim Identification
Session 3 - Intervention Using Cultic Theory
Session 4 - Trauma-Informed, Victim-Centered, and Survivor Informed Best Practices
This is a free training, however registration is required for planning purposes.
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Supporting Sexual Trauma Survivors: Increasing Effectiveness in Your Response
In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the Sheridan VA is hosting a community-wide educational event, with free CEUs! This event will be offered with limited in-person seating, and virtually via Webex. The goal is to provide information about the realities of sexual violence, debunking common misconceptions, and practical skills for supporting sexual trauma survivors.
We invite you to join us, either in person or online on April 29th from
9:00 am - 3:00 pm .
This event is open to the public.
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Healthy Moms, Happy Babies (HMHB) Community-Based Webinar 
Coming to Your Community in Summer 2021!
Many staff of home visitation, early childhood and similar programs struggle with how best to address issues of domestic violence (DV) among their clients. The impact of DV on parents' and children's physical and mental health and risk for substance use and persistent perinatal depression is well documented. To support communities' capacity in DV prevention, response, and healing, we are providing Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies (HMHB) webinars. We aspire to reach each county in Wyoming, and invite you to lead in identifying community partners to invite to the webinars.
This summer and early fall, a team of people from Wyoming Departments of Family Services, Health, and Corrections, along with Wyoming Children's Trust Fund and WCADVSA, will provide training. The 3-hour webinar provides healing approaches to DV prevention and response for staff of home visitation, early childhood, and other community programs, with attuned approaches to DV for survivors.
HMHB is an interactive curriculum that addresses the barriers and difficulties staff experience in addressing DV. The training will address how personal and or vicarious trauma or abuse may impact our ability to do this work. Specific strategies and tools, personal and organizational, will be presented to address the needs of front-line staff and managers so that they feel adequately situated to hear a positive disclosure of abuse.
We hope sharing in this interactive learning space with your fellow community members and organizations will be another capacity building opportunity for all. If you're interested, please click here to choose some weeks that look good for a potential webinar for your community, and Susie will reach out to you to talk about this in more detail. For more information email Susie Markus or call her at 307-222-3352 or 307-274-6292.
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National Webinars, Training, and Events
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Native American Fatherhood & Families Association Webinars 
We offer training for those that are diligently working towards improving family relationships, improving responsible fatherhood and motherhood, reducing recidivism, reducing substance abuse, and improving safety for our children. We have a vision to pave our way into a future where fathers and mothers will experience a true happy & safe family.
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Supporting Family Resiliency through Relationships with Animals: 3-part Webinar Series
Who Should Attend These Webinars?
Domestic violence professionals, including; dv advocates, child advocates and shelter staff, child and family trauma therapists, counselors, child welfare professionals, early childhood professionals, and educators.
Series Learning Objectives:
1) Understand how human-animal interactions can support resilience and healing for adult and child survivors of domestic violence.
2) Understand how programs serving families who experience domestic violence can increase their capacity to meet the diverse needs of survivors by becoming animal-friendly spaces
Part 2 - Wednesday, May 5 1:00 pm: Sheltering Animals & Families Together (SAF-T)®- Actionable Insights from the Field
Part 3 - Wednesday, June 2 1:00 pm: Supporting Children with Therapy Animals: Human-Animal Interactions for Children Survivors of Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment
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Save The Date - Transforming the Culture of Power
Transforming the Culture of Power: Indigenous Transformative/Restorative Circle Practices on Healing and Thriving Together in Community. May 11-13, 2021. This free virtual national summit will meet from 9 to 4 each day and feature interactive breakout sessions.
Multicultural communities are invited to participate in deep dialogues so that together we can heal the historic wounds we carry in our body, minds, and spirits, wounds that are rooted in systems of governance based on racial and gender inequality.
To prevent continued harm and transform our communities, we need tools that foster dialogues across differences and community-building circle practices to heal both those who harm, and those who are harmed. The summit will honor values of love, compassion, reframing how we walk in balance in our lives, empathy, humility, wisdom sharing, connecting to the land, sacredness, honesty, courage, truth, vision questing, accountability and courage to change - these are the necessary ingredients to build a vibrant, thriving community based on equity for all.
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Conference on Crimes Against Women Virtual Conference
The Conference on Crimes Against Women provides best practices and training from the nation's leading experts on violence against women. Individuals in the fields of law enforcement, prosecution, family law, social work, advocacy, medicine, members of the military, tribal communities, campus safety professionals, and others who work directly with female victims of crime attend this conference to learn the latest techniques and cuttingedge strategies applicable to their fields.
This year's Virtual Conference will feature 6 half-days of training split over 2 weeks to allow for maximum flexibility in your schedule! Webinars will be a mix of live and on-demand. Can't watch all the webinars live? We will be recording all of the webinars and they will be available for 60 days following the Conference!
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Click here to view a variety of upcoming webinars, national training, and conferences.
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Resource Center |
New Financial Empowerment Resources for Survivors 
Our partners at The Allstate Foundation launched the Moving Ahead Curriculum - Online, a platform providing domestic violence survivors access to free, on-demand education to help achieve financial independence and rebuild their lives. The new online curriculum is available in English and Spanish and covers a variety of important financial topics, including budgeting and setting financial goals, managing debt and improving credit. Access the new online curriculum at MovingAheadOnline.org or download a PDF with the same educational information here.
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Trans Resources for National Crime Victims' Rights Week 
April 18 - 24, 2021 is National Crime Victims' Rights Week, a week to promote community awareness of crime victims' rights and services.
This Community Awareness Project funding has allowed FORGE to send awareness and outreach packets to all sexual assault and domestic violence coalitions, as well as to all LGBTQ+ Community Centers across the country. These packets include trans-specific palm cards, rack cards, and flyers.
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ERAP Weekly Update for Stakeholders 
The Wyoming Department of Family Services has set aside $5 million from the federally funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) for grants to counties and nonprofits for local, in-person application assistance and housing stability services.
UPDATED! In order to adhere to new federal guidelines, Wyoming has revised how the $200 million in federal funding for the ERAP will be distributed.
- $180 million for direct financial assistance for rent, utility, and internet payments and housing stability services
- $20 million for application assistance and administrative costs to set up and manage the program
We are on track for applications opening by the end of April. We are finalizing policies and developing a simple online application. The applications will be only available online, but there will be local application assistance in each county. We are encouraging renters and landlords to start preparing and collecting documentation. Eligibility requirements are available at dfs.wyo.gov/erap
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Report: SSA's Reliance on Flawed Data from Private Company Leads to Low-Income People Losing Vital SSI Benefits 
Washington, D.C. - Thousands of extremely low-income older adults and people with disabilities have likely had their Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits cut off erroneously, bringing many of them to the brink of homelessness, according to a groundbreaking report from the National Consumer Law Center and Justice in Aging. Since 2018, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has used a private database from LexisNexis called Accurint for Government to determine whether SSI recipients had unreported real estate that could disqualify them from receiving SSI. The problem? Many of the LexisNexis reports are riddled with errors, and SSA is using potentially erroneous information to cut people off without conducting any independent investigation.
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Through our Presents Program, PRESENT NOW provides personalized gifts to children living in transitional domestic violence shelters. Children at our partner shelters are eligible to receive up to three presents during their stay, one for their birthday, one for back to school, and one for valentines day.
This program is the core pillar of our effort to provide children in domestic violence shelters with joy, comfort, and relief during a time of crisis. PRESENT NOW currently serves 44 shelters in 5 states, and we are now expanding nationally. We would like to provide potential funding and our in-kind Presents Program to qualifying shelters in Wyoming.
If your shelter is interested in participating in this program, please contact Zach Leonard at (424) 330-0002 or
(617) 710-8747 cell to set up a call to learn more.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday declared racism a "serious public health threat," becoming the largest federal agency to do so.
"A growing body of research shows that centuries of racism in this country has had a profound and negative impact on communities of color," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement published on the agency's website.
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Most rape crisis and domestic-violence programs wouldn't survive without government funding that ties them to the police-and it's left advocates trapped in a toxic dynamic.
Katie Bement expected hard conversations when she put a Black Lives Matter sign on her office lawn. She believed the relationships she'd built with police chiefs and sheriffs were solid and trusting, that they could bear the weight of a national reckoning with racism. Bement is the executive director of Embrace, a sexual assault and domestic violence advocacy organization in northwestern Wisconsin. She was proud to have police officers on her board of directors; she believed that having strong ties to law enforcement kept survivors safer.
But in September 2020, Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald resigned from Embrace's board. In a closed-door meeting, he convinced the county health department to rescind a $25,000 annual grant that paid for crisis counseling and emergency housing. Over the next week, 14 of the 17 police departments in the region cut ties with Embrace. Hard conversations are for equal relationships, and Bement realized that what she had with the police was anything but.
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End Abuse of People with Disabilities Newsletter
Resources: Responding to Sexual Assault of People with Disabilities
People with disabilities are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault and other violent crime than people without disabilities (BJS). The rate is even higher for specific groups of people with disabilities, including women, people with psychiatric and cognitive disabilities, and people of color with disabilities.
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NLIHC's Advocates' Guide 2021 Now Available Online 
The Advocates' Guide is NLIHC's resource about virtually every federal affordable housing program and policy pertaining to low-income people. The Advocates' Guide, written by NLIHC staff and other leading experts in the field, contains summaries of housing and community development programs as well as housing policy advocacy tools and other information. It contains all the information advocates need to advocate with public officials, in both the legislative and executive branches of government.
New in this year's Advocates' Guide is detailed information about COVID-19 housing and homelessness response programs; the policy priorities of NLIHC's new HoUSed campaign for racial housing justice and universal, stable, and affordable housing; and actions taken by the Biden administration related to fair housing and protections for immigrant households and LBGTQ individuals, among other things.
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Spotlight |
SAAM 2021 Days of Action - Finish Strong 
Over this past month we've seen the power of coming together as a community and educating ourselves on how to prevent sexual violence. Listening to stories, talking to survivors, and creating safe online spaces will ensure that we're taking care of each other.
There's still time to order your Wyoming Wears Teal shirt and show your support for survivors throughout the month by wearing your shirt - and then sharing a selfie on social media. Post your photo on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtags #WyomingWearsTeal2021 and #SAAM2021, and join an online community of advocates, activists, and survivors who are signaling their support.
Chances are, someone in your life is a survivor of sexual harassment, assault, or abuse, even if they've never shared their story with you. Upcoming events for next week:
Friday, April 23: Cross-Promote
Give yourself a shout-out by posting a screenshot where you're sharing SAAM content on another platform.
Saturday, April 24: Symbolic Item
Share an object that represents your commitment to ending sexual violence. Explain its significance in the caption.
Sunday, April 25: Supportive Representation
Tell us about a book, show, song, YouTube video, etc. that gives a good representation of survivors.
Monday, April 26: People to Know
Shine a spotlight on someone who is speaking out in the movement to end sexual violence and create your own graphic or find another way to highlight them.
Tuesday, April 27: One Takeaway from SAAM 2021
Closeout SAAM by sharing something everyone can do to promote respectful online spaces in the coming year. Find a way to demonstrate, illustrate, or share this message in writing.
Wednesday, April 28: Denim Day: Wear Jeans with a Purpose
Wear jeans to take a stand against victim-blaming in honor of Denim Day. Head over to DenimDayInfo.org to learn more about the campaign.
Thursday, April 29: Spell It Out: S-A-A-M
Get creative and use objects (flowers, food, art supplies, etc.) to form the letters S-A-A-M and snap a photo.
Friday, April 30: You Did It! Gratefulness Shout-Out
Give thanks to someone or something that helped to make your engagement in the #30DaysofSAAM possible this year. This might be yourself, your team, or some other supportive person, place, or practice that you want to express your gratitude towards.
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Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
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