Some
Words from our Executive Director
Summer 2010
Spring 2010
Winter 2009
Fall 2009
Summer 2010
It is a privilege to be in my position. Every day, I have the chance to help people better their lives, to bring out a smile, to encourage. I’m in a position where I can offer comfort to someone in need, clothe someone who is cold, feed someone who is hungry, or simply offer compassion and friendship. I’m in a position where I can be the bright part of someone’s day, week, or life.
We are all in this position, for it is not my position as Executive Director of the Family Violence Center to which I am referring. It is my position in this world a human being. We all have the power to help others regardless of our rank or title, no matter our financial position or time constraints. We are all in a position of privilege as we all have many opportunities each day to help one another.
The good news is that there are just as many ways to help as things that need helping! To make a difference you must do only two things:
1. Decide to get involved
2. Get involved
I challenge you to make a commitment by the end of the day to get involved in something you are passionate about. (That may be FVC. 
) That commitment could be as simple as a phone call, a donation, or finding out about volunteer opportunities. Just get started. Getting started is the most important part. Who knows where it may lead?
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”—Anne Frank
Peace,
Rodney Dwyer, MBA, CPA
Executive Director
Family Violence Center, Inc.
Spring 2010
Whether you realize it or not, hope is what moves us through our day and our life. You may hope for a good cup of coffee when you wake up, you may hope to get to work on time, you may work hard in hopes of a promotion, or you may just be hoping to make it until 5:00 on Friday hoping your weekend is a great one. You may hope that your love grows deeper, that your children grow happy, and your life is meaningful. Whatever you hope for, hope can be a powerful and motivational force that provides direction and moves us forward in life. Hope is often the most related yet underrated ingredient of success.
Abuse and oppression work to stifle hope. Through a pattern of coercive behaviors, abusers will systematically control and intimidate their victims until they seemingly have no hope. No hope for the future, no hope for a better situation, no hope for any life except this abusive one, no hope of reaching out to someone, no hope at all. Once someone loses hope, they are resigned to their current situation.
I have come to know many people who say that they have no hope. But it is not that they are hopeless; it is just that they have lost touch with their hope. They have experienced oppressive and abusive environments to the extent that all they see are walls and barriers. When all one sees is walls and barriers, there is no direction to take, no momentum to be gained, nowhere to go, no future.
I have seen that hope can be beaten down, but not out of a person. When we shift our perspective, change our focus so we are looking through the window and not at the wall, if we can just lift our eyes so we see not only the barriers but what might be beyond, that is hope. And hope is the beginning to great things for our clients and ourselves.
Hope is the opposite of complacency as it inspires action. Hope leads us to work over, under, around, or through barriers to a better life, a better community and a better world.
“Once you choose hope, anything is possible” – Christopher Reeve
Peace,
Rodney Dwyer, MBA, CPA
Executive Director
Family Violence Center, Inc.
Winter 2009
Each autumn, I am reminded of change and transformation. The scenery of the Ozarks transitions from green to fiery reds, bright oranges, and yellows. A quiet sets over our landscape as crickets hush their song, birds move to warmer destinations and all living things prepare to be tucked in for the winter.
The residents of the Family Violence Center are also in a period of change and transformation. They are hurting both physically and emotionally. Most have been living in fear, isolation, hate, and pain. Many feel alone.
When someone is brave enough to say, “I want help,” the Family Violence Center is here to say, “You are not alone.” We try to help facilitate each person’s story of recovery and healing. We try to help each person discover how empowered they are to live their own life. Many discover that entering a shelter for domestic violence was not the lowest point in their lives, but the beginning of a new life. We help each person transform their daily experience from hate to love, from isolation to inclusion, from pain to healing, from violence and abuse to peace.
We have an opportunity to transform as well, both individually and as a community. We can change from bystanders who simply shake our heads and say, “That’s a shame,” to being active in our support. We can stop focusing on all the reasons why we can’t do anything about a problem and start focusing on what we CAN DO to help. We can be ever increasing in our involvement to support each person’s story of healing and empowerment. By transforming ourselves, we can transform the community and the world.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world” - Mohandas Ghandi
Peace,
Rodney Dwyer, MBA, CPA
Executive Director
Family Violence Center, Inc.
I am extraordinarily honored for this opportunity to serve the Family Violence Center (FVC), and the women and children who receive its services. The FVC has a 33 year history of providing shelter, advocacy, and education to women and children who have been abused. Our goal is to break the cycle of domestic violence and assist our clients in establishing independent lives free of abuse. But we can not do this alone.
The impact of domestic violence is felt not only by the women and children abused, but by our community as a whole. Concerned neighbors, law enforcement officials, social service workers, emergency room and hospital personnel all feel the blows of domestic violence. The list of those impacted directly and indirectly goes on and on.
The support of our wonderful community has been, and will continue to be, a vital ingredient in the success of carrying out our mission. Members of the community have given generously in donations and their time. The all volunteer board of directors has provided leadership and direction through decades of ups and downs. Past and present FVC staff has put their hearts into serving our clients on a daily basis. To everyone who has sustained the FVC and made it what it is today, I want to extend a sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU! Due to your support and efforts, thousands of women and children have lived in peace. Like all of you, I share the desire to help our community.
A Missouri native, I grew up in the Rolla and St. James area. For the last six years I have called the Springfield area home. The desire to help our community led me to initially volunteer at the FVC where I have been increasingly compelled to help. Now I can dedicate myself full time to this worthy cause. I continue to be inspired by the strength of those who were abused, rising above adversity to become whole again. I am also inspired by the staff of the FVC who shows up every day, determined to work with our residents to become success stories rather than statistics.
I am excited to join together with the community, the board and staff of the FVC in the endeavor to help those who have been abused. I will do my upmost to care for victims of domestic violence to the best of OUR ability and I very much look forward to working with everyone to help empower those who have been abused to take back their lives, making our residents and our community stronger.
Be well,
Rodney Dwyer, MBA, CPA
Executive Director
Family Violence Center, Inc.
