SAFE Berks

Joan Crater has 7 children of her own and after 28 years she is retiring from her position at Berks Women In Crisis. She is the longest standing employee at the shelter where she put her degree in social work to good use. She talks about why it was important for her to stay so long and why she didn’t consider it a ‘job’. She led parenting classes for the women in the shelter and says the residents changed her life. Joan says her door was always open, “I wanted the residents to always feel important because they are”. Joan shares memories of the old shelter on 5th Street and the move to a brand new building. She says for the first time all 50 residents to eat a meal together instead of in shifts and sitting with their plate on their lap.

Mereliss Colon is the Assistant Director of Residential Service at Berks Women In Crisis. She talks about how the person ‘before BWIC’ is different from the person ‘after BWIC’. She describe a typical day at the Safe House and the ways that BWIC teaches you about a better life that you can live, and how to spot red flags in relationships.

Mereliss tells Christine Gilfillin, Associate Director at Berks Women In Crisis, that the work done at BWIC grabbed her attention because there is a history of domestic and sexual violence in her family. Mereliss talks about the term, ‘machista’ and says domestic violence is accepted and almost ‘the normal’ in the Hispanic culture.

Mereliss is on a mission and says she will never leave her job at BWIC. She is passionate about her work and says domestic violence should not define the Hispanic community. Berks Women In Crisis teaches that domestic violence and trauma is not normal. She says when she tells people she works at BWIC the reaction is, “WOW, you guys do a lot of good things!” and that make her proud of what she does.

Missy Zimmerman fills two roles at Berks Women In Crisis. She is President of the Board of Directors and a volunteer at the Safe House. She talks about her mother’s volunteerism at a crisis center and how it inspired her to volunteer and give back to the community.

Missy says that volunteering at the Safe House while serving on the Board gave her a different perspective on the issues that are addressed at Berks Women In Crisis. The experience provides more awareness to matters taking place in the boardroom and enables her to interject differently during discussions. While Missy’s board term is coming to a close she will continue to serve as a volunteer and encourage others to do the same.

Jonathan Encarnación is an administrator at UPMC and serves on board and the medical advisory committee at Berks Women In Crisis. He shares his journey to getting on the board at BWIC. Jonathan cites the opportunity to work with Mary Kay Bernosky, Executive Director at BWIC and the quality staff there as a compelling reason to serve on the board of directors.

The core values of dignity and respect at UPMC enable him to connect consumers at BWIC to medical advocacy and help the clients at BWIC maintain dignity and respect. Jonathan says, “There is no excuse to tolerate domestic violence … It needs to be discussed and the conversation must take place at home and among all of society “.

Jay Mahoney is a board member at Berks Women In Crisis serving his third term. Jays talks with Christine Gillfillin, associate director at BWIC, about his first contact with Berks Women In Crisis as an insurance broker with Gallen Insurance. He recalls visiting the safe house to discuss insurance options with the women. What he remembers most is fear and apprehension in the eyes of the children.

It was an image he could not shake. That first hand experience has kept him at the BWIC table doing whatever he can. He recently heard the public testimony of a rape victim and was angry because of what she endured and the fact that the people around her left her hanging without support. Jay says he will do whatever it takes to let people who are suffering know that there is somebody standing next to them. Jay says he is thrilled that BWIC is involved in schools and education is the key to ending domestic violence. “No one should ever have to suffer abuse and whatever we can do as a society to eliminate that is what we should do.”

Christine Gilfillan talks with Mary Kay Bernosky, the Executive Director of Berks Women In Crisis, talk about why Berks Women In Crisis really is “The Place You Start”… to be in the driver’s seat and take control of your life. Mary Kay shares how and why she merged her legal career with her passion for helping women.

She discusses her exposures to domestic violence issues in her family and how those experiences framed her passion to make a difference. The broad spectrum of exposure to this issue across all demographics in our society motivates her to keep working to make resources available to everyone who needs assistance to regain control of their lives. Find out what Berks Women In Crisis is doing in their 40th year and how you can be part of it.

Welcome to this new series, The Place You Start. Christine Gilfillan, Associate Director at Berks Women In Crisis, will be your host for this story series and she talks about why Berks Women In Crisis is the place you start and what that means. Berks Women In Crisis offers a whole array of programs that address domestic violence. Berks Women In Crisis has grown according to the needs expressed by survivors and victims in this community. Today this organization works just as hard at domestic violence education and prevention as it does at providing crisis services. The stories at Berks Women In Crisis are powerful and when shared they help to empower women to take control of their lives and build healthy families. The stories affect all of us. Please share them and help build a community without violence.