Dear Supporter,
Maitri presents the summer edition of our Newsletter, with all the updates. Read it! Share our successes and aspirations! Continue your support for Maitri!
Write back your comments or thoughts to outreach@maitri.org
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Meet a Maitri
Volunteer
Volunteers are Maitri's
back bone. This section will feature the
profile
and thoughts of one volunteer every
issue- to
know
them
and to be inspired
NM
"Thanks to my mom"I suppose my interest in working at
a domestic violence prevention agency started with my mother. She instilled
within me an intense loyalty to women's issues and women's rights. My mom is a
survivor-a bronze weapon that has endured through centuries of being buried in
the earth. Despite the emotional abuse she faced at home, she stayed and worked
to make sure that my sister and I received the best education and care
possible.
Many would
say that her staying at home was a sign of her dependence, her inability to
survive alone. I thought that too-for many years. I wanted to change her and
influence her to be more active and take charge. But what I learned when I grew
older was that by staying at home, she took charge of her own life with a
fierceness and rawness that so many women possess.
She stayed for me, for my sister.
And once that realization had steeped into my blood, I could not help but see
her and all women who survived through this pain as powerful, almost superhuman
beings.
Now, thanks to my mom, I will be
graduating from Stanford and my sister will be attending Berkeley. Thanks to her, I was inspired to
volunteer for Maitri. As her older daughter, I was always privy to her stories
of struggle and her decisions. From everything I have learned from her, I hope that
I can help women like her who are also trying to make this decision to stay or
leave.
Today, my mother is thriving-she is
still with my father and most of the issues of the past have settled down.
After having been a school teacher and director for over a decade, she is now
planning to start an education non-profit for children in India. She has
given me so much hope and inspiration for the future through her immense power.
I hope that I can fully utilize her teachings to work with Maitri to counter
the violence that women face in our society.
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Maitri Quarterly Updates
Read on to know our work and
progress
Direct
Client Services Update
We have
served an average of 124 clients a month, during the months of March, April and May. (see break
up in the table below) Our volunteers have provided approximately 769 hours of
direct client services, including peer counseling, transportation, court
accompaniment and interpretation services.
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Month
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March
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April
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May
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New
clients
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17
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21
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7 | |
Ongoing
clients
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105
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120
|
102 | |
Total
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122
|
141
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109 |
Hotline
Update
Over
the months of March, April and May, we have received 699 calls. Informational calls and calls from our ongoing clients form the bulk of our calls. We have had 64 first time
callers and made 40 referrals in this period. The break-up of the calls we
received are as follows.
Transitional Housing Update
Our transitional
housing program has been in operation for the past 11 years. It is a safe and
sheltered environment for women to transition into an empowered,
self-sufficient, and independent life. Services offered to residents include
peer counseling, case management, referrals to legal services, educational
resources, assistance with driving lessons & ESL classes, and housing
search, economic empowerment program etc.
We used to rent
different apartments to house our clients. In 2009, Maitri fulfilled a long term
dream of owning its Transition House. Our current location, which can house up
to 9 families (women and children), is partially operational while the rest of
the facility is being renovated.
Legal Advocacy Program Update
Maitri's legal advocacy program provides legal information on family law, immigration and other
legal issues. Since March 2010, the program has provided 105 legal advocacy
sessions to 45 clients. In addition to legal information, the program is also a
resource to help clients access legal resources, like free legal clinics, in the Bay Area.
Contact us at legal_advocate@maitri.org
for any relevant queries.
Outreach Update
The outreach program works to increase awareness of Domestic Violence issues
and to inform the public about Maitri and its services. Maitri's has
participated in the following events in the past 3 months.
Maitri benefits
- Women and Law Benefit, Santa Clara
- Mission Suhani- A Nautanki, Berkeley
- Nataka Chaitra, San Jose
Presentations:
- Women and Law Benefit, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara
Speaking Up about Domestic Violence in the Asian American Community,
Stanford University
- Cupertino's Multinational Women's Conference, Quinlan Center, Cupertino
Cultural issues in Domestic Violence, John F Kennedy University, Campbell
- High School Presentation on DV issues, Next Door Solutions to DV
- SCDVC meeting, Next Door Solutions to DV
- High School Presentation on DV issues, Mexican American Community Services Agency
Institute, San Jose
Outreach at Educational Institutions Community Health Fair, CET, San Jose Mental Health and wellness day, Mission College, Santa Clara
Outreach at Cultural events and fairs
- Women's Health Forum, Sunnyvale
- International Women's Day March and
Rally, San Jose
- SpaandanB's Bengali New Year
celebrations, Sunnyvale
- SAGC's Meet our organizations, San
Francisco
- ICC's and PACC's Basant Mela,
Sunnyvale
- Himalayan Fair, Berkeley
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About Maitri
We are a free, confidential, referral nonprofit organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area, that primarily helps families from South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka among others) facing domestic violence, emotional abuse, cultural alienation, human trafficking or family conflict.
We are non-discriminatory in our services with respect to gender, race, color, religion, age, national origin, disability, and sexual orientation.
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Save the Date
For our Annual Fundraiser
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Support
Maitri and get fit
We invite you to join our team at the ICC Sevathon this year!
ICC Sevathon is an annual event that strives to create awareness about various
causes and non profits. You can participate in the event, while supporting
Maitri's cause.
So, have a day out in the sun with your family! Enjoy on-stage performances and
other fun activities! Get fit walking or running! And spend the Sunday
supporting a violence-free community!
Event: 5K or 10K walk or run, and half marathon
Date: Sunday, July 18, 2010
Time: 6.30 am (marathon) and 7.30 am (walk/run)
Place: Baylands Park, Sunnyvale
To register: Mail outreach@maitri.org or click here
You can also support us by forwarding this mail to your friends and family and
encouraging them to join us.
We look forward to meeting you there!
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A
heartfelt thank you...
We extend
our appreciation to our donors whose help enables us to support our clients
through the most difficult periods of their life to transition to a hopeful new
one without violence. For FY 2009, in alphabetical order, - AAPIP
- Blue Shield
- eBay Foundation
- Housing Trust of SCC
- NASABA
- Office of Violence Against Women
- Palo Alto Jr League
- Sidney Stern Foundation
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation
- Spark Foundation
- TJX Foundation
- Van Loben Sels Foundation
- Verizon Foundation
- Yahoo! Employee Foundation
- YWCA/ Women's Foundation
We also
recognize individual donors and the contributions of those who have donated in kind- furniture, cars
and many more items that help our clients rebuild their life.
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Donate to make a difference!
Every dollar counts! Help a family today... $35
pays for a client's ESL classes $50 pays for a week's
gasoline $70 pays for a month's bus pass $100
pays for a month's basic necessities of an infant There are many ways in which you can make a contribution to Maitri. - Make checks payable to "Maitri", and
mail it to 234 East Gish Road, Suite 200, San Jose, 95112
- Donate using your credit card, here
- To donate stocks, contact
- Mail outreach@maitri.org for business sponsorship of our events
- You can donate cars in good working condition as we have clients who can use them
- If you have in-kind donations for our clients, mail hotline@maitri.org
- Gift cards to grocery stores, gas cards, or phone cards are also a great way to help
Your donation is 100% tax deductible. Maitri is a 501-C(3) non-profit
and our tax ID is 94-3132087
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