2017
New Branding Is Launched
A special VIP Unveiling Event will be held on Wednesday, January 18, 2017, 12:30PM at the Liberty Resources, 218 Liberty St., Oneida, NY office.
Liberty Resources’ Victims of Violence program will make a major announcement regarding a change of program name and re-branding of the services provided. For nearly 30 years, the Victims of Violence program has provided victims assistance, advocacy and education on domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, child and elder abuse in Madison and Chenango counties.
After months of soliciting program name ideas from staff, community partners, clients, and working with a local marketing firm, the new name was chosen as part of a new and more empowering/positive and trauma-focused identity, and staff feel that it embodies more the domestic violence/sexual assault services core values. We invite you to join us as we take the first steps in introducing our new name, branding, website, and social media pages to the Central New York community.
CONTACT: Antoinette Follett, Dir of Mktg & Comm
Liberty Resources, Inc.
e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
t: 315-425-1004 x1630 / c: 315-383-1028
Watch a Bridge Street Video About HRHC:
The Help Restore Hope Center in the media.
Recent News Articles:
"Madison County Proclamation," Oneida Daily Dispatch, April 2017.
The [Madison County Board of Supervisors] board enacted a resolution proclaiming April as the national child abuse prevention and sexual assault awareness month with the intent of bringing awareness to the fact that abuse and violence are widespread. Nationwide it is estimated that 679,000 children are the victims of abuse and neglect each year. Furthermore, 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men will be assaulted at some point in their lives. In Madison County, there are an estimated 300 cases of sexual assault each year, and in 2016 the Madison County Department of Social Services received 1,634 reports of child abuse and mistreatment. Of that figure, 230 of the most serious physical and sexually abusive reports were investigated by a multi-disciplinary team, resulting in 41 arrests. Throughout April, the Madison County Department of Social Services, the Madison County Child Advocacy Center, and Liberty Resources Help Restore Hope Center will be concentrating efforts in spreading awareness and education of sexual assault in order to deter child and adult abuse.
"Support Sexual Assault Victims," Oneida Daily Dispatch & Evening Sun, April 2017.
The month of April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This year’s theme, “Engaging New Voices,” builds on the idea that we are stronger together, and that new partners and community members are needed to expand sexual assault prevention efforts. Liberty Resources Help Restore Hope Center – (formerly known as the Victims of Violence Program) is proud to be partnering with many community organizations and individuals this month to give voice to those impacted by violence, see www.HelpRestoreHopeCenter.org/news for the full list of April events!
We can all help the next generation foster attitudes that promote healthy relationships, equality, and respect. According to National Sexual Violence Resource Center statistics, nearly one in five women and one in 71 men are victims of sexual assault at some point in their lives.
There is hope! Survivors, like Melissa King, a Volunteer Ambassador, play an important role in providing hope for other survivors. Melissa was impacted by sexual violence and experienced trauma that caused her much pain and suffering. Melissa has courageously begun sharing a message of hope to other survivors while advocating for those hurting and in pain. “I have found that by sharing my experience it enables me to help advocate for others in need,” Melissa shares. Sharing and advocating for others can be a part of a healing process.
We all have a role to play in preventing sexual violence in our community. Our actions, big and small, have a ripple effect on those we teach, guide, and influence. From modeling healthy behavior to addressing inappropriate conduct, everyone can make a difference. Changing beliefs which contribute to sexual violence starts with believing survivors of sexual violence when they share their stories.
You can help by calling out victim-blaming comments or rape jokes if you see them online. Remind those around you that sexual assault is never the survivor’s fault. Seemingly small actions like this make a critical impact.
Get engaged this April during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Join us in embracing your role in ending sexual assault. Learn more about how you can use your voice for change and awareness month activities at www.HelpRestoreHopeCenter.org.
Sara Haag, divisional director and Joanne Smith, clinical program supervisor, Liberty Resources Inc.
"Giving Aid To Help Restore Hope," Oneida Daily Dispatch & Evening Sun, March 2017.
Liberty Resources, Inc. Help Restore Hope Center, formerly known as the Victims of Violence Program, would like to thank all who generously donate to the United Way of Greater Oneida, Inc.’s campaigns. The continued support and funding from the community make it possible for the Help Restore Hope Center to provide high quality services to victims of crime, including survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Help Restore Hope Center provides free and confidential services. Program services include a 24 hour/7 day a week hotline (1-855-9NOWSAFE/1-855-966-9723), counseling and therapy services, support groups for survivors, medical and legal accompaniment, referral and advocacy services, safe shelter for emergency domestic violence situations, assistance with Office of Victim Services compensation applications, and innovative survivor holistic healing workshops.
Additionally, Help Restore Hope Center provides professional trainings, community education and encourages community collaboration with those that provide help to survivors. It is only with these dollars that we are able to provide the variety of extensive services to those in need. Your generous contributions to the United Way of Greater Oneida, Inc. help support our community’s most vulnerable individuals so they can receive the support needed to improve quality of life for themselves and their families. Thank you for your support.
For more information about Help Restore Hope Center, please visit our website at www.HelpRestoreHopeCenter.org or call the 218 Liberty St., Oneida office at (315) 363-0048.
Sara Haag, divisional director, and Joanne Smith, clinical program supervisor, Liberty Resources, Inc.
"Liberty Resources Offers Domestic Violence Legal Aid Services," Evening Sun, February 2017.
NORWICH - The Liberty Resources Help Restore Hope Center of Chenango County has announced the launch of a Domestic Violence Legal Aid Clinic starting March 17, of this year.
"New Name," Oneida Daily Dispatch, January 2017.
Nearly 30 years ago, a group of concerned women sat around a table discussing the need to aid women and children who were experiencing violence in their lives. That discussion led to the creation of the Victims of Violence Program at Liberty Resources, and since 1988, the program has helped women, children, and men in the area affected by domestic or sexual violence, serving as a voice for those who were unable to speak for themselves. Twenty-eight years later, the program has rebranded itself, selecting a new name that better represents the feelings and thoughts of the community members it has aided.
Victims of Violence is no more. Now, it is the Help Restore Hope Center. The new name, said Clinical Program Coordinator Joanne Smith, was Liberty Resource’s way of acknowledging a “more current model of services” and perhaps more importantly, a way of “honoring the messages that victims needed us to hear.”
“As the program grew, we knew that it was time to honor the victims’ voices and to look for new ways to let their voices be heard,” Smith said. Feedback from past and current community members who sought help from the former Victims of Violence program were integral to the name change. Smith explained that their voices and thoughts were key as Liberty Resources wrestled with the challenge of renaming the program.
“We are survivors, not victims.”
“We need a vision of hope, not of despair.”
“We are overcomers, not just victims that get through.”
Those sentiments helped spark the name that is also accompanied by a new logo and wesbite.The logo consists of different colored ovals overlapping to form a butterfly wing silhouette symbolizing metamorphosis, hope, and renewal. The colors used in the logo represent the community members the Help Restore Hope Center serves and include: purple, domestic violence; teal, sexual assault and rape; blue, child abuse; and silver, stalking.
“We’re still here; we just have a different name,” said Sara Haag, Liberty Resources Divisional Director of Family Services. Though still “crunching” the 2016 figures, Haag said the Help Restore Hope Center serves approximately 600 non-duplicated individuals annually. From families to single mothers to children to single fathers, the demographics of the public served includes a variety of people. “It could be anybody and everybody,” Haag said. “Domestic violence or sexual assault happens to all.”
Haag said the Help Restore Hope Center is funded through a combination of private donations, county contracts, and state and federal assistance.
With 10 full-time staffers - nine in the office on Liberty Street in Oneida and one in the Chenango County satellite - the Help Restore Hope Center has grown five times larger than its humble beginnings in 1988 when Cheryl Matzke and Carlene Holt began the program as Victims of Violence at Liberty Resources.
During the program’s infancy, Matzke and Holt were on call 24/7 in order to establish a working hotline for users to call, sacrificing their time, previous jobs, and family lives in order to serve individuals in need of the program’s services.
“Their motivation and passion for this work has inspired every staff member that has walked through the doors of the Victims of Violence program,” Smith said.
Smith also recognized Marianne Simberg for her efforts serving on the original committee that brought the program to Madison County and who to this day volunteers on the hotline every Friday night between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., as well as Susan Jenkins for her “efforts to make this program a reality.”
“Today has been a vision in the making - without that group of concerned women back in 1988, without all the staff that have come and gone along the way, without Liberty Resources, without our volunteers, without our community partners, without victims who have the courage to speak up - this day would not be a reality,” Smith said.
To visit the revamped website and learn more about the Help Restore Hope Center at Liberty Resources in Oneida, visit: www.HelpRestoreHopeCenter.org.
"New Name," Evening Sun, January 2017.
Liberty Resources unveils a new name, logo, and website
for Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Program this past Wednesday on January 18. After months of deliberating program name ideas from staff member, community partners, and clients, the name Help Restore Hope Center has been chosen as part of a contemporary and empowering program identity to aid survivors and provide education and prevention services in the community. Since 1988, the Liberty Resources Victims of Violence program has provided free confidential support to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and/or trauma in the Madison and Chenango County communities. While the name of the Victims of Violence program is changing, the scope of services and program activities remain the same. Help Restore Hope Center will provide services for survivors, education, and prevention on domestic violence, child abuse, dating violence, and other forms of abuse. A new, responsive designed website has been created (www.HelpRestoreHopeCenter.org) with user-friendly navigation and easy to find information about services, resources, support groups, and tips for recognizing signs of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, child, and elder abuse.
News Archives:
"Building Violence Free Communities," Oneida Daily Dispatch, December 2016.
“The Victims of Violence Program on WSYR Bridge Street,” WSYR, October 2016.
"Churches Restoring Hope To Abuse Victims," Oneida Daily Dispatch, June 2016.
"Mother's Day Can Be Difficult For Some," Oneida Daily Dispatch, May 2016.