Living Change – Local Domestic Violence Center executive director shares her commitment to the mission at hand

 Linda Davies helps women put their lives back together everyday.
From a modest Savia Community Center office she shares with staff in Newhall, her perch on a balance ball chair is a perfect spot for a woman who is managing an office but, more importantly, restoring order in her clients’ lives.
As executive director for the Santa Clarita Valley Domestic Violence Center, Davies has for the last five years, slowly grown its presence among the several hundred non-profits calling Santa Clarita home.
She’s managed to ride a wave of media attention, from incidents both locally, and nationally (e.g. NFL player Ray Rice’s domestic violence incident, which was caught on film), in an effort to not just raise the discussion, but to point out it’s not a local or national or cultural issue – it’s a cyclical problem that can only be changed if the behavior is addressed.
“Because it’s generational.  It goes on and on and on…” she said.  “People have to live it.  Then they don’t get help, and they don’t realize how much it affects them.  So they act it out.”
The idea is to break the taboo, raise awareness and realize domestic violence is a generational, community problem, not one confined to a single household.
“We, as a community, need to know things are happening, and people need to know about it so they can get help,” Davies said.  “And I think we’re showing up at places where we haven’t shown up before.”
The affable, outgoing nature of Davies is reflected in the station’s outreach, which has presented their educational programming to, well, anyone who will listen, including the local community centers and a veterans group.  Now, with the creation of an academic domestic violence curriculum, her team will be in SCV schools, as well.
“We’ll meet with anybody,” Davies said, her urgency of message and exuberance comforting traits to hundreds of women who have come through the shelter where she now lives with clients.
Davies has a unique approach, taking a different tact than traditionally has been employed by such resources in the community – if for no other reason than traditional convention and approaches are not Davies’ wheelhouse.
The Northeastern native obtained a psychology degree from UMass, and her master’s degree in Human Development and Family Systems at Wheelock College. But most of her professional career has been dedicated to child care, which was the reason she got into the field in the first place — her daughter.
She understands the rebuilding process her clients must go through from first-hand experience.  It was her concern for the welfare of her then-1-year-old daughter that left her to set out on her own, head back to school and work, defying stereotypes and prejudices she faced as a single mother in predominantly Catholic Boston in the late-70s.
Now a grandmother, Davies enjoys the year-round family-oriented events organized by the Domestic Violence Center staff meant to engage families.
A close look at her management style reveals these roots.  One of the Domestic Violence Center staff’s favorite fundraisers is an annual springtime, fairy-themed brunch inviting Disney princesses, face-painting and glitter galore, which welcomes the whole family to a place where one might not usually find happy families: the Domestic Violence Center.
And that’s by design, Davies said.
The pain and anguish associated with domestic violence often leaves the victim ashamed and isolated, which discourages many from getting help, she said.
“Domestic Violence is not a fairy tale” is the theme of the event, which Davies knows as well as anyone, but her mission is to lift the stigma by encouraging the discussion.  Sometimes that means bringing it to places where it hasn’t really ever been discussed.
One of her recent accomplishments has been garnering more attention to the plight of her clients, those seeking to rebuild, which has been furthered by several community partnerships, including with local media outlets, the Sheriff’s Station and the city of Santa Clarita.
Davies has been working feverishly to turn the outcry over several high-profile domestic violence murders that took place in Santa Clarita last year – a murder-suicide outside a Stevenson Ranch Fedex location, and then less than two months later, Robert Arvizu was accused of fatally bludgeoning his wife of less than a year, Courtney – into action for those she seeks to help.
The pair of murders prompted the Sheriff’s Station to reach out in an effort to create a local response, and the result was the Victims Advocate Program – in which Domestic Violence Center staff went on ride-alongs and on domestic violence calls to work with law enforcement, helping deputies understand the unique challenges of the case, as well as those facing the badge.
“That came directly as a result of (SCV Sheriff’s Station officials) asking, ‘What can we do?’” Davies said.
The city also proactively joined the conversation, Davies said, with Gail Morgan from the city’s Communications Office and Jessica Jackson, a former DVC board member who also worked with Morgan at the time, creating an educational component for the community.
“That’s where the DIVERT program came from,” Davies said, as well as the “Break the Silence, Stop the Violence” campaign the city led this year to raise awareness.
“Really the whole purpose of what we’re doing is to point out that it’s a community issue, not just a family crisis.  And the more people who think of it that way, the less stigma it will have and the more people can get help.”
Perhaps one of her proudest accomplishments so far has been the trainings, whereby the Domestic Violence Center staff leads 40-hour educational seminars, which have been attended by more than 300 Santa Clarita Valley residents.
“We’ve really done quite a bit of going out and talking about this issue,” Davies said, recalling a touching moment outside of the Savia Center office on Newhall. Davies was in on a Sunday, and a client came up to her after a church service in the community center.  She asked to speak with Davies in her office, Davies wanted to make sure she was OK with the potential that people might know she’s a client.
“She looked at me and said, ‘I didn’t ask to be abused,’” Davies said.  “It was really a wonderful moment for her to say that.  Ultimately, she has no shame in what she was saying.”
For more information about the Domestic Violence Center, please visit www.dvc-scv.com.

Comments