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•''community service
Volume XXXX, Number 35
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
w w w .p o rtla n d o b s e rv e r.c o m
Wednesday • September 8. 2010
A Lifeline for Victims
One-stop
domestic
violence center
opens
The Gateway
jf~
~
by J ake
T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
Survivors o f dom estic violence
no longer have to trek from place
to place to access the resources
they need to escape their abusers
and establish new lives, a process
that can be vexing as it is time
consum ing.
The Gateway Center for Domes
tic Violence Services is celebrating
its opening this week at 10305 E.
Burnside St., serving as a “one-
stop” place for people trying to break
free from an abusive partner.
The whole idea behind the cen
ter is that individuals fleeing an
abusive dom estic situation can
come to the center’s single location
and get most, if not all, o f their
needs addressed, rather than hav
ing to go to multiple places scat
tered across the city.
People who utilize it can access
legal help, get a shelter referral, file
a police report, apply for a domestic
violence grant, get food assistance,
find a clothing closet, and just have
a comfortable environment to take a
Martha Strawn Morris directs services for the Gateway Center for Domestic Violence Services, a
breather.
new one-stop resource for people trying to break free from an abusive partner.
Gatewa
Center
Recovering from
Traumatic Events
Like Sept. 11,
surviving families
learn to cope
by J ake
T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
After working for more than 20
years helping families recover from
tra u m a tic in c id e n ts, D onna
Schuurman has learned to avoid
using the phrase “getting over it.”
Schuurman -- who works as the
executive center o f the Dougy Cen
ter, a nationally-recognized organi-
The comprehensiveness o f the
center is made possible by collabo
ration between the City o f Portland
and Multnomah County, in addi
tion to the Oregon Department o f
Human Services, LifeworksNW, the
Immigrant and Refuge Community
Organization, and other organiza
tions that will be setting up shop
inside. And the services are much
needed.
According to the Oregon De
partment o f Human Services, there
were over 34,000 calls for help with
domestic violence, which include
crisis calls, peer support calls, and
calls for information and referral. A
1999 study by Multnomah County
found that nearly 14 percent o f
women in the county had been
physically abused.
The needs o f each survivor o f
domestic violence vary greatly; and
M ultnomah C ounty’s Domestic
Violence Resource Guide is 48
pages.
Martha Strawn Morris, the direc
tor o f the center, explained that
people utilizing the center are di
rected toward one o f six workers
dubbed “navigators,” who inform
them o f what resources are avail
able to them.
"A navigator can take very per
sonal concerns and very personal
needs and translate that into what
services are available,” she said.
continued
on page 18
zation that helps grieving families -
- likens the process o f healing to
so m eo n e
w ho
has
been
unexpectantly hit by a big wave
while on a beach. They might be
tossed around, and be hit with an
other wave, but sooner or later they
learn to keep afloat.
This Sept. 11 will mark the ninth
anniversary o f a traumatic event
that the nation is still recovering
from. In Portland, and elsewhere,
there are people recovering from
Everett Lawrence Briley and his two sons in a family photo.
continued
on page 7