President's Message

EDRA BLIXSETH
As the leader of Shelter From The Storm, I know I am attempting to fill big shoes. Thank you to the past president of of our Board of Directors, Bob Baltes, and to all of our past presidents and board members, for your excellent leadership over the years. I look forward to working with you during the years to come.

I believe that even as we plan for the agency�s future, it is appropriate to examine our past. In 1988, a group of concerned community leaders recognized that the Coachella Valley offered no services for victims of domestic violence. They also recognized the critical need to provide a safety net for abused women and children. Thus, they established Shelter From The Storm as a non-profit corporation to provide the much-needed shelter and services.

These dedicated individuals spent almost five years of intensive fundraising until finally Shelter From The Storm opened its Emergency Shelter�s doors in September, 1993. Since that time, our doors have never closed and thousands of women and children have sought and been provided refuge from violent homes.

Over the years we began to realize that although shelter services remained vital to victims, there were many other unfulfilled needs. Thus, our Board and staff developed a strategic plan to expand the agency to provide the comprehensive services battered women and children required. We have grown to encompass 11 distinct program locations and more than 200 beds in the Coachella Valley. In addition to our Emergency Shelter, we offer Long-Term Transitional Housing, a Community Counseling Center, a Legal Clinic and eight Outreach Centers. We provide two schools on site at the Emergency Shelter: a Head Start modeled pre-school and our new K-12 schoolhouse.

We offer the Coachella Valley�s only Teen Dating Violence Prevention Program in our local high schools. We provide services to battered women who are deaf and to those with disabilities needing Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations. We also offer ongoing community education services to law enforcement and other professionals as well as to the lay community.

Sadly, the Valley�s demand for our services continues to grow. To meet these overwhelming needs over the next two years, we will double the size of our Community Counseling Center. The expansion will help us to better serve the many abused women and children who come to us desperately in need of non-shelter services. During this same time period, we will completely renovate the Emergency Shelter.

Shelter From The Storm has indeed come a long way over the past 18 years. Unfortunately, as our community grows, the need for our life-saving services grows proportionately. We thank you for your past generosity and rely on you to help us continue our increasingly demanding work.

One way that we can all help in the cause of Domestic Violence in our everyday lives is to make a firm personal commitment to not be a martyr, victim or villain. One of my personal goals is to lead and live by this example.

Thank you again for your continued support on behalf of the countless lives you are helping to change�one family at a time.