Save the Date for An Evening with Rachel Coaliton on Wednesday, May 9 at the Montclair Art Museum, 3 South Mountain Avenue in Montclair.

All proceeds from this event will benefit services provided by Rachel Coalition to victims of domestic violence in our community.

Cocktail reception, strict kosher dietary laws observed

For more information, please contact Sylvia Heller at 973-765-9050 x1708 or by email.

Domestic violence fund assists children of abuse: Audrey Gaelen gift supports expansion of JFS services
From the New Jersey Jewish News on October 5, 2011
By Johanna Ginsburg, NJJN Staff Writer

Founded to address the needs of battered women, the Rachel Coalition has received a $100,000 endowment to enhance the quality of life of their children.

The Audrey Gaelen Rachel Coalition Children’s Services Fund will underwrite a range of activities and services for children exposed to domestic violence, from after-school activities to summer programs, meant to augment the therapy and other services already provided by the coalition.

The gift, received in July and named in honor of its donor, is part of an expansion of services offered by Jewish Family Service of MetroWest and its affiliated Rachel Coalition, both beneficiary agencies of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ.

“For years we saw only the victims of domestic violence, not children,” said JFS executive director Reuben Rotman in a meeting at the new office space in Livingston that will be used primarily for children’s and adolescent services.

To continue reading, click here.

The Rachel Coalition, a partnership of local organizations working together to support victims of domestic violence, has recently received a generous donation to establish an endowment in support of its Court Advocate Training program.  Anita Fishman of Maplewood made the gift to Rachel Coalition and in her honor, the program has been renamed as The Fishman Family Court Advocate Training Program. 

Twice each year, Rachel Coalition offers a 40-hour course to train volunteers to assist domestic violence victims as they await their restraining order hearings in Essex County Family Court.  On December 8, the most recent class of 15 court advocates graduated in a ceremony at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Newark.  The Fishman Family endowment will generate approximately $5,000 annually to be used toward operating expenses for the volunteer trainings.

To read more about the Fishman Family Court Advocate Training Program, click here for an article from the New Jersey Jewish News.

Resources Are Available for Victims of Domestic Violence
In the wake of Shazima Kahn's murder, domestic violence experts hope future tragedies can be prevented
from the Montclair Patch, July 8, 2011

Both were mothers who lived in Montclair and both are believed to have been murdered by their estranged partners.

The death of Shazmina Khan, whose body was found on Monday, harkens back to another slain Montclair woman – Monica Paul who was killed by her ex-boyfriend in 2008.

 An article in the Montclair Times drew parallels between the lives and untimely deaths of the two women, “Both women were allegedly slain by either an ex-husband or ex-boyfriend. . . . Both couples had a history of domestic violence. And both crimes left behind orphaned children,” the article stated.

Khan’s estranged husband, Khalid Khan, 42, of Bloomfield has been charged with her murder and is being held in the Essex County Jail.

While the Montclair community has held candle light vigils and fundraisers for Khan’s 8-year-old daughter, service providers say there are resources available for local victims of domestic violence that will hopefully help prevent more deaths in the future.

Some of those include the Rachel Coalition, Safe House, Babyland Family Services, and the Family Justice Center. To continue reading, click here.

Click here to download "Surviving Domestic Violence: Your Legal Rights" a guide for victims of domestic violence produced by the Rachel Coalition and Partners for Women and Justice. 

This publication is co-sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and made possible with funding from the IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey.

The Rachel Coalition and Jewish Family Service of MetroWest announce a new support group for relatives and friends of domestic abuse victims.  Recruiting now, Out of the Shadows will meet for eight sessions at the offices of Jewish Family Service, 256 Columbia Turnpike, Suite 105, in Florham Park.

Participants will have an opportunity to learn from experts in the field of domestic violence about supporting victims, managing the impact on children, understanding legal issues and processing their own emotional needs.

The group is free of charge. Pre-registration is required to participate and can be completed by contacting Sylvia Heller at 973-765-9050 x1708 or sheller@jfsmetrowest.org.  All inquiries are confidential. 

The pro bono legal services offered by the Rachel Coalition are featured in a new article from the Millburn/Short Hills Patch.

"For victims of domestic violence in Montclair, there’s a place to go for help.  
In the United Way Building beside the library at 60 South Fullerton Avenue, the non-profit legal services of Rachel Coalition and Partners for Women and Justice provide free legal services to low-income families affected by domestic violence."

Read the full article here.

Program Explores Teen Dating Violence: Mother of slain girl warns parents about perils of social media
From the New Jersey Jewish News, October 26, 2011
By Johanna Ginsburg

Mac McAdams of Moline, Ill., still wipes a tear away as he hears his daughter describe the death of his 15-year-old granddaughter, Jenny Crompton. No matter that the murder happened in 1986.

“It’s still hard to think about what she’d be like after all these years, and how much of life she missed,” he said quietly to the reporter who happened to be seated next to him.

Just a few weeks after the 25th anniversary of Jenny’s stabbing murder at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, her mother, Vicki Crompton-Tetter, is still telling the story. She’s been on Oprah, in Redbook magazine, and is the author of Saving Beauty from the Beast: How to Save Your Daughter from an Unhealthy Relationship, a book she coauthored in 2003 with Ellen Zelda Kessner, another parent of a murdered child.

“The story is old, the hairdos are old, but human nature is the same. People still come up to me after I talk and say, ‘Thank you. I needed to hear that,’” she told 165 people, almost all women, at Rachel Coalition’s Oct. 18 Women to Women Luncheon.

Click here to continue reading.

Past Rachel Coalition Chair Lesley Frost shares how Rachel Coalition is making a difference in the lives of abused women, many of whom are suffering worse in the challenging economy.

"Now entering its 14th year of service to victims of abuse, Rachel Coalition, a division of Jewish Family Service of MetroWest, has become increasingly aware that economic security is a vital factor in a woman’s decision to leave or stay in an abusive relationship. Because the ability to survive financially outside the relationship may override issues of personal safety, we are making economic security a focus of our educational and advocacy efforts."

Read more of this op-ed in the New Jersey Jewish News.

Many people wonder why women stay in an abusive relationship, why victims of abuse make the choices they do or how someone might cope in an abusive situation.  To help people confront and understand these issues, The Rachel Coalition presents In Her Shoes, an interactive and powerful workshop that is open to members of the community.  Participants will experience what a victim of domestic violence has to do once she decides to reach out for help.

Each free, 90-minute In Her Shoes workshop explores the challenges and frustrations women suffering from domestic violence face, the community response to domestic violence and ways individuals can help.

To schedule In Her Shoes with your organization, please contact Sylvia Heller at 973-765-9050 x1708 or sheller@jfsmetrowest.org.