[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 735]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        30TH ANNIVERSARY OF WOMEN ESCAPING A VIOLENT ENVIRONMENT

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am pleased to recognize the 30th 
anniversary of one of the Capital region's most vital nonprofit 
agencies, Women Escaping a Violent Environment Inc., WEAVE, in 
Sacramento, CA. In its three decades of service, WEAVE has provided 
invaluable public service to victims of domestic abuse, as well as 
their families, and has helped to save countless lives as a result of 
the education, counseling, and intervention they have provided to 
victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault.
  WEAVE was established in 1978 in Sacramento as a grassroots 
organization to serve survivors of domestic violence and their families 
by providing crisis lines and counseling services. Within the first 10 
years of its establishment, WEAVE broadened its role in the community 
to include legal advocacy, opened a safehouse that provides emergency 
services to female victims of domestic violence and their children, and 
became a dual agency that expanded its mission to include sexual 
assault services. Victims are accompanied to appointments and are given 
emotional support, information, counseling, food and clothing.
  In the next decade WEAVE recognized that employers and schools could 
also be part of a solution in preventing domestic abuse and sexual 
assault. They provided prevention education to elementary and high 
schools, and began their Break the Silence Campaign that increases 
awareness of domestic violence by educating employers and their 
employees to recognize signs of abuse and how to best respond. During 
the 1990s, WEAVE also opened a Children's Center and WEAVE Works retail 
clothing store that provide revenues to support their mission in the 
community.
  Today WEAVE has 80 staff members and over 200 active volunteers in 
two locations, who serve over 20,000 survivors of domestic violence and 
sexual assault annually with intervention and counseling services, 
along with educating an additional 10,000 members of the community on 
issues of domestic violence and sexual assault. WEAVE has achieved this 
success through partnerships with local law enforcement, government and 
business leaders.
  As the community and staff gather to celebrate WEAVE's 30th 
anniversary, I congratulate and thank the staff, volunteers and 
community partners of this important organization and wish them many 
more years of success.

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