Volunteer of the Month: Deanah Baker

Deanah Baker, SVP-GMM, Apparel at Walmart, has been volunteering for the NWA Women’s Shelter as an active member of the Board of Directors since early 2016. She currently serves on the Fresh StART committee and, along with Megan Crozier, she will be one of the Honorary Co-Chairs of this year’s Fresh StART event being held on October 14. Deanah explains why this cause is important to her,

My husband was in education for 25+ years and his passion was in getting to know his students and their personal stories.  He has so many examples of brave young people who struggled in their home life due to various circumstances, including abuse in the home.  While Northwest Arkansas is an amazing community with so much to offer, the statistic remains that 1 in 5 people are victims of domestic violence.  My goal is to see all of our NWA neighbors thriving; not living their lives in fear or feeling helpless and alone in changing their situation.  Our strong NWA community can come alongside the Northwest Arkansas Womens Shelter to give victims of domestic violence safety, hope and support for a new beginning.

Deanah has used her skills and her position on the board over the past year to help move the NWA Women’s Shelter out of its financial crisis and begin moving toward sustainability. As a part of these efforts, Deanah hosted a private fundraising party this spring and has raised more than $22,000 in 2017 for programs and services provided through NWAWS.

You can meet Deanah at Fresh StART or look for other ways to get connected with NWAWS by visiting our volunteer page.

 

Crossmark  took some time to brainstorm how to best partner with our organization and decided to support our clients with in kind donations by way of a competitive donation drive. Together, the Crossmark teams gathered a reported 249 packages of items to donate to our clients. These 249 items had to be transported to our Thrift Store in TWO trucks! Our staff relayed how incredible it was to see this company rally behind our clients and to have donated such a large number of urgent need items. A big thank you to our partners at Crossmark! We are honored to recognize you as our Donor of The Month.

 

Charity Challenge of Champions

Charity Challenge of Champions graciously selected NWAWS as their charity recipient for their 26th year of the event. This event spanned six days and featured a Run for Courage, Tennis Tournament, Golf Tournament, and social activities all aimed at providing a unique way to merge fun, sports, and supporting NWA residents in need.

Saturday night an NWAWS outreach client courageously shared her story with attendees in a moving testimony of abuse and restoration that she has found through support like what the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter offers. Thank you to everyone who listened to her story and showed her love and support.

Final numbers are not yet in, but all funds raised will support NWAWS clients as they work to rebuild their lives.

Read this article to learn more about this years’ Charity Challenge.

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Ozark Off-Road Adventure

Every other year the Ozark Off-Road Club donates the proceeds from their Ozark Off-Road Adventure to the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter and this year saw some amazing growth for the club and the event! The club is made up of 150+ off-road adventurers and the event is a three-day long gathering in Pineville, Missouri that features family fun, the outdoors, and every off-road activity imaginable.

This super-friendly hobby group is always so much fun to work with (even more so when they take the Executive Director out for an off-road spin)! The final amount raised will be announced in October, but at this point OORA estimates $15,000 was raised in support of our clients and programs.

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Thanks to all of the sponsors, volunteers, and donors who made these 3rd Party events successful this year. We look forward to on-going collaborations with both groups!

Support from our community makes a meaningful difference in the lives of victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

To highlight how your support impacts our clients, our shelter presents Words of Hope – messages directly from our clients in which they share how their time at the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter changed their lives. Check our blog to stay up to date with Words of Hope or sign up for our newsletter.

My experience at the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter has changed my life and my children’s lives. We finally feel safe and secure. We can move forward with our lives.

The staff here have been so helpful and friendly. They were resourceful and helped me with all of my questions about housing. Thanks to them, my family will finally have stability and security. We will no longer live in fear.

Are you inspired by our clients testimony? Share it on your socials!

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