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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