S moke S ignals
may 1, 2014
1
Domestic violence program to be revived
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
Anne (pronounced Annie) Falla
started as the Tribe’s Domestic Vio-
lence Program coordinator at the
beginning of April and is reviving
a program started at the Tribe 11
years ago that lapsed a few years
later.
The renewed program, funded by
one federal and two state grants,
will create and staff a domestic
violence crisis line. Available to all
clients, the line also aims to bring
together a network of dedicated
volunteers to staff the line, Falla
said.
As the program gets underway,
Falla also is seeking other domes-
tic violence programs in the area
so that the Tribe can be part of a
network that shares the load and
improves services.
This work is laying the ground-
work to flesh out the position.
Under her leadership, the Tribe
will become part of a network of
similar agencies in the area and the
school systems the program will be
working with.
Falla, 29, is setting up a confi-
dential database including basic
client demographics for future do-
nors/grant funders and is planning
to start community outreach.
“I think it will be very challenging
and slow moving at the beginning,”
Falla said. “Then it will all start
taking off.”
Falla seems to have been born for
the job. She was raised by “a strong
female, a German mom who pushed
my brother and I to be the best we
could was empowering,” she said.
“She made it clear we would have
to do our best because we would
have nothing to fall back on – no
real local family, no amazing trust
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Anne Falla started as the Tribe’s new Domestic Violence Program coordinator
in the beginning of April.
fund, etcetera.
“We struggled to survive, skip-
ping from apartment complex to
apartment complex. My father’s
Puerto Rican side was somewhat in
the picture, but I could see the way
many Oregonians treated them dif-
ferently based on their skin tones
and I remember as a child ques-
tioning this deeply and wanting to
speak up for my family.
“Another visual example is my
brother, who was born with one
arm. So many would stare, run into
things because of staring, assume
he also had a mental disability. I
found my voice for speaking up for
him at a young age.”
Falla had her educational start
at Oregon State University where
she focused on women studies and
violence against people.
When she found women studies,
she said, her future in the field
“seemed natural. We discussed
divisions of power, giving a voice
to issues that really were personal
and equality. I found a major that
was my perfect fit and I decided my
way in life.”
Professionally, she worked two
years at Henderson House in Mc-
Minnville, another domestic vio-
lence and sexual assault program.
At the same time that she applied
for the job at Henderson House, she
applied for work in the Peace Corps.
It took two years for the Peace
Corps to come around and accept
her application – the two years she
worked at Henderson House.
She was assigned to two years
in a small, rural town in Ukraine
fighting HIV as a youth developer
at the local social services center.
The two-year experience so mo-
tivated her that she arranged for
another year in the country.
On her return, she dropped by
Henderson House to see her former
colleagues and see what volunteer
positions might be available. As it
happened, Henderson House was
one of the outlets the Tribe had
contacted as part of its recruitment
for the position.
Her experience and ambition were
the qualities that made her the
best candidate, said Social Services
Manager Dave Fullerton. “And her
passion for the field,” he said. She
now reports to Fullerton.
Funding for the position, award-
ed in December, is coming partially
from the Violence Against Women
Act, the same funding source that
paid for the program years ago,
Fullerton said.
The Tribe was awarded a three-
year federal Department of Justice
Violence Against Women Tribal
Government Program grant total-
ing $394,732, which includes a
Domestic Violence coordinator and
funds for trainings and client sup-
port services, according to Planning
and Grants Development Manager
Kim Rogers.
The Tribe’s new program also is
being funded through a two-year
agreement with the Oregon Depart-
ment of Justice, which includes
$10,000 a year of state funding
from the Oregon Domestic and
Sexual Violence Services Fund and
$10,000 a year in federal Violence
Against Women Act federal pass-
through funding.
The Oregon Department of Jus-
tice funding is non-competitive on-
going funding. The federal funding
is from a competitive award, but the
number of awards offered each year
to Tribes is fairly high so there are
good odds for stable ongoing fund-
ing, Rogers said.
“I definitely want to do justice to
the people who wrote the grants,”
Falla said. “I want to create some-
thing that is self-sustaining. If the
grants are not re-upped in two and
three years, I want to have enlisted
enough sources to continue the
program on a volunteer basis. And
I want to know that we have all
worked hard on this.
“My heart is in this,” she added,
explaining what it takes emotion-
ally to do the work.
“You’re trained to listen or be
a witness to some pretty tough
stuff day after day. It’s learning to
disconnect it from yourself. You’re
there for providing support and
information. If they take the in-
formation and support, they do; if
they don’t, they don’t. You do the
best you can, but ultimately it’s a
matter of what the client wants to
do. They know what is right and
what is wrong.”
Outside of work, Falla is a gar-
dener and walker. “I just started
a salsa garden,” she said, growing
tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic
and cilantro.
“I really like walking, too,” she
said. But it is not as casual as that
might sound. “Me and my mom
have done 10 half-marathons to-
gether; we walk for two hours each
weekend.”
She lives with her mother in
Newberg. n
Mothers of Tradition
training set for May
The White Bison Mothers of Tradition training is returning to the
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Tuesday through Thursday,
May 20-22, at the Community Center, 9615 Grand Ronde Road.
The training’s purpose is to increase awareness of how intergen-
erational trauma interrupted the culture, language, family ties and
parenting practices among Native peoples.
Participants will learn how to apply cultural teachings to bring
healing to children and relationships. The training is free, but
people must register to attend. Participants must make a three-day
commitment and attend from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information or to register, contact Alcohol and Drug
Counselor Karan Scharf at 503-879-2029. The training is sponsored
by the Tribe’s Behavioral Health Program and funded by a Meth
and Suicide Prevention Initiative grant. n