Spectrum recently received the following note along with a donation. I’m posting it because I believe it says so much about Spectrum’s role in the community and the direct impact our services can have in redirecting a young person’s life.

I was so glad to receive Spectrum’s letter this year.  I have been intending to send a gift for a number of months, to recognize the assistance Spectrum rendered my daughter’s long-time friend.  I am so aware of her potential and her determination to go to college.  Finding Spectrum meant that she found support that she wasn’t able to find from her parents.  Thank you for making a difference to the future.

Thank you Burlington Free Press for highlighting Spectrum for your Giving Season section this year! Great story about Melinda Gabree, who credits Spectrum with helping her transition from foster care to living on her own and attending college.

Read it here: How Spectrum helps young lives in Vermont

Every other year we ask Spectrum staff to give us anonymous feedback on how we are doing as an organization, here are some of the responses:

I would like to say how lucky I am to have such a fantastic supervisor, she is always supportive and checks in regularly to ensure I have what I need to get my work done.

I am honored to be employed by such a great agency over the last few years and I am excited to see what transpires in the future within Spectrum!

You inspire and encourage, I fee like we have a real team in our area.

Last week, 10-year-old, Jasper and his father, David, of Waterbury, delivered 15 large bags of coats, hats, and gloves to Spectrum’s Drop-in Center! As part of his volunteer work with Red Sox Kid Nation, Jasper ran a winter clothing drive and chose Spectrum to benefit from it. Thank you, Jasper!

David and 10-year old Jasper of Waterbury after delivering winter clothing to Spectrum

From a psychologist who consults nationally and is familiar with the work our counselors do:

“..it is clear after looking at the charts and doing supervision that Spectrum is light years ahead of most agencies in their adoption of standard, effective practices that are also reflected in the documentation.”

The following is from an investigator in the Lamoille County Public Defender’s Office. She observed our batterer’s intervention group last week and sent her impressions to David Battick, one of our coordinators.

Good Morning David,

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that I enjoyed meeting both Jailyn and Donna last night when I attended the group meeting. I thought they were very respectful with each other and each of the participants in the group. They both seemed to put a lot into the group and truly care about what they were doing and interested in teaching the participants. The men there likewise seemed to like the women and respect them. I didn’t get the impression they were on their best behavior since I was there observing. It was so drastically different since the last time I attended one of these meetings – long before Spectrum took over. It was nice that the facilitators were there early and then stayed after the meeting and made themselves available to the participants should they have questions or need help with their assignments.

I had my doubts about having co facilitators of the same sex but after talking with and observing these two women work, I have changed my mind somewhat. I now believe that it doesn’t make a difference if they are male and female facilitators but more about the personality and interaction between the co-facilitators and the participants. Donna and Jailyn seemed to really enjoy their jobs and working with the group. They seemed to be well prepared and knowledgeable. They do not appear to be push-overs either.

I told Donna and Jailyn that I was going to spread the word among my other oversight committee members to observe their group.

Spectrum and the Women’s Rape Crisis Center have been awarded a federal grant to enhance and expand services and advocacy for youth victims of sexual assault. During the past year, one in six Vermont youth was a victim of physical, emotional, verbal, or sexual abuse. This three-year grant illustrates the collaborative effort among area social service agencies to address the prevalence of sexual violence among Vermont’s youth.

Check out The Burlington Free Press article on the grant: Grant to Expand Services for Youths

Most of the work which Spectrum performs is with teenagers, young adults and their families. But there is an exception: our Violence Intervention and Prevention Programs. VIPP staff run groups throughout the state with men who have been convicted of domestic violence. The groups’ main goal is to help these men recognize and name the beliefs that they have about women, power, control, and violence, and also the terrible effects such violence has on the children in their homes. The program helps participants find motivations for engaging in safe and respectful relationships with women and children, including the beliefs and intents that would support this behavior. Our staff believe that by helping men to establish responsibility for their abusive behavior and to find motivation for change, we can reduce future acts of violence towards both women and children.

Spectrum has been involved in VIPP since the 1980′s, one of our longest-running programs. I am very proud of this work and of our staff who do it. I recently read the feedback sheets which participants complete when they have successfully completed a group cycle. Here are some of the responses:

This group helped reinforce the importance of personal accountability and how change has to come from within. It also reinforced the importance of communication, negotiation, and equality in a relationship.

Group made me realize just how many things are abusive that I was doing and was never really aware of.

Group helped me to understand that two people always don’t agree, but there are other ways to solve it besides violence.

The group helped me be a better spouse, and treating my spouse better makes me feel better about myself.

Those are just a few, but there are dozens more which are so powerful. It gives you an idea of the impact our staff are having on so many families all across Vermont. VIPP is why, when people ask me how many youth and families Spectrum is affecting each year, I always reply, “thousands.”

Janusz Korczak is one of my heroes, he ran an orphanage for children in Warsaw, Poland in the 1930′s, was way ahead of his time in terms of how children should be treated and listened to.  When the Nazis forced the children, who were all Jewish, to board a boxcar headed for a concentration camp, he chose to go with them, even though he had the opportunity to escape.  He died there with them, faithful to the end.

From his book, How to Love a Child, (and very relevant to the work we do at Spectrum):

If a child has a life where cruelty has become the norm, what a powerful effect would be the memory of that person – perhaps the only one – who showed kindness, understanding, and respect.  The child’s future life and sense of his self could take a different course, knowing there was one person who would not fail him.