Lantern Project: Since October 2013, Hope House has joined with other domestic violence programs around the state by implementing the Lantern Project. For our part in this statewide project, we added to the lamppost in front of Hope House a purple wreath. We will turn on the light for a week every time there is a death related to domestic violence in Wisconsin. We will post information online about the person(s) that was killed. If you drive by our building and see our lamppost on, please reflect on the deadly impact that domestic violence has on our communities. We know the list of stories we post here is incomplete. We strive to learn about and share these stories but know that there are some that we and the media miss. If you see a news story of a death in WI related to domestic violence and don't see it posted here, please feel free to let us know about it here. Thank you.

News Story: “MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee woman is accused of child abuse. Investigators say her daughter died just days before her second birthday. Tiffany Payne allegedly texted her boyfriend she regretted ‘whooping’ her daughter. The text was sent after the girl had already died. Inside a Milwaukee apartment building at 79th and Hampton, a little girl allegedly spent her final moments. Sunday, August 13th paramedics arrived at this location and found Lesley Hill, lifeless -- and just days before what would have been her second birthday”…Read more

News Story: “PARDEEVILLE, Wis. (WMTV) – The man who was killed in a shooting with police has been identified by officials. According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Thomas Selje, age 64, was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities say a deputy responded to a report of a domestic disturbance at a home located at 416 Vince Street and arrived to gunfire coming from the residence. The responding deputy ended up firing his gun, killing Selje”…Read more​

Lantern Project: Since October 2013, Hope House has joined with other domestic violence programs around the state by implementing the Lantern Project. For our part in this statewide project, we added to the lamppost in front of Hope House a purple wreath. We will turn on the light for a week every time there is a death related to domestic violence in Wisconsin. We will post information online about the person(s) that was killed. If you drive by our building and see our lamppost on, please reflect on the deadly impact that domestic violence has on our communities. We know the list of stories we post here is incomplete. We strive to learn about and share these stories but know that there are some that we and the media miss. If you see a news story of a death in WI related to domestic violence and don't see it posted here, please feel free to let us know about it here. Thank you.

Obituary: "Crystal Leanne Leopold, of Milwaukee and formerly of Waupaca, was taken from us far too soon on Friday, August 11, 2017 at the young age of 24.  She was born in New London, WI on October 20, 1992 to Patrick Leopold, Sr. and Cassandra (Wilson) Leopold.  Crystal was more than just a silly sister, loving mother, thoughtful daughter and amazing friend.  She was a breath of fresh air to everyone she came into contact with.  She had a way of bringing out the joy in people that ultimately became a reflection of herself (who she was as a person).  She taught us that perfection wasn’t about doing all the right things in life, but about loving one another and always being there to cheer up someone or making them smile.  Crystal is a beautiful soul that touched all of our hearts deeply; a goofy, fearless girl that just made life interesting. She leaves behind four beautiful children: Alan, Jr. and Samuel Garries, Nathaniel King, Jr. and Emmanuel Sanchez, Jr."...Read more

News Story: "WAUPACA, Wis. (WSAW) -- Crystal Leopold was known for being happy, outgoing and bold according to her family.On Friday, August 11 she was stabbed and killed by her ex-boyfriend according to Milwaukee Police. Leopold has four young children. Wednesday evening, Crystal’s family and friends gathered in front of the Waupaca Library and walked to a park wearing purple, in honor of domestic violence victims. Leopold’s siblings are on a mission to help other domestic violence victims. 'We want to reach out to people who are being violently abused and don't know how to come out. Just talk to a friend, just tell somebody,' Leopold’s sister, Tiffany Leopold, said. In the weeks leading up to her death, Crystal’s family had been trying to get her and her four kids back to Waupaca from Milwaukee. According to her sister Natasha, she was planning on visiting Crystal who had just gotten a restraining order from the ex-boyfriend that is now suspected of killing her.
'We want to raise awareness to everyone that this could happen, she was way too young to go and she was trying to get out,' Natasha Leopold said"...Read more

Lantern Project: Since October 2013, Hope House has joined with other domestic violence programs around the state by implementing the Lantern Project. For our part in this statewide project, we added to the lamppost in front of Hope House a purple wreath. We will turn on the light for a week every time there is a death related to domestic violence in Wisconsin. We will post information online about the person(s) that was killed. If you drive by our building and see our lamppost on, please reflect on the deadly impact that domestic violence has on our communities. We know the list of stories we post here is incomplete. We strive to learn about and share these stories but know that there are some that we and the media miss. If you see a news story of a death in WI related to domestic violence and don't see it posted here, please feel free to let us know about it here. Thank you.

​News Story: “Pleasant Prairie Police have identified the two people who died of gunshot wounds Monday night as James H. Justice, 49, and his wife, Martha A Justice, 39. The two were found dead in their apartment in the 8600 block of 82nd Street about 10:20 p.m. Monday, following a report of an argument followed by gunshots. Officers forced their way into the apartment and found the couple in the bedroom. In a statement released Friday morning, police said the investigation led detectives to believe James Justice fatally wounded his wife before taking his own life”…Read more

News Story: “Officials identified the man who was stabbed and killed on Madison's south side Saturday morning. The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office said 52-year-old Gerald F. Moore, of Madison, died as a result of ‘homicidal sharp force injuries.’ Officers responded around 5:30 a.m. to an apartment in the 1000 block of West Badger Road after receiving an urgent 911 call from what sounded like a man. Ronald E. Redeaux Jr., 27, of Madison, was arrested on a probation hold. Madison police expect to refer a charge of first-degree intentional homicide in Moore's death.  Redeaux and Moore were in a domestic relationship, according to the report. Moore's cousin, Isaac McMillian, remembers him as someone who put family first. ‘He loved to cook, and he would give the shirt off his back and he was very family oriented,’ McMillian said”…Read more

Welcome to the August 2017 edition of Hope House's Community Education E-bulletin!​

Thank you to the W.R. & Floy A. Sauey Family Foundation!
Last month the W.R. & Floy A. Sauey Family Foundation donated $10,000 to support child advocacy efforts in Sauk County! 

The W.R. & Floy A. Sauey Family Foundation supports programs designed to promote education; preserve and increase participation in the free market system; and promote quality of life in local communities with an emphasis on child and family issues.

The Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program is a group of highly trained community volunteers that are appointed by the court in cases of dependency and neglect. CASAs act as the eyes and ears of the court, ensuring the best interest of the child is being served. Sauk County CASA operates under the umbrella of Hope House and currently provides advocacy services to thirteen children and six families in Sauk County.
​
To learn more and get involved, visit www.saukcountycasa.org.

Hope House Donation Needs
​Monetary donations are most needed.  Individuals have the option of donating ​online.  Please note that a portion of your online donation will go towards PayPal fees.  Donations can be mailed to Hope House, P.O. Box 557, Baraboo, WI 53913. We also appreciate gas cards, gift cards (Walmart, Kwik Trip, Walgreens, Kohl’s), taxi vouchers from Baraboo Taxi, and used cell phones, iPods and iPads.  Please note that we are not accepting used stuffed animals/plush toys, used toys, clothes (except for new sweatshirts and sweatpants), shoes, used books, furniture, TVs, bar soap, hats, scarves or travel-size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, or body wash. Current needs include the following:

• Miscellaneous: New T-Shirts, New Yoga Pants, Deodorant, Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Full-Size Bottles of Conditioner, Tissues,  Zippered Mattress Protector, Copy Paper, Journals, Pocket Calendars, Wash Cloths, New Flip Flops, and New Stuffed Animals for the Child Appointed Special Advocate Program
• Kitchen:  Pots and Pans, Silverware, and Fresh Produce
• Cleaning supplies: Laundry Detergent, Lysol Spray and Wipes, All Purpose Cleaner, Magic Eraser, and Toilet Bowl Cleaner
• School Supplies: New Markers, Notebooks, Colored Pencils, Pens, and Backpacks         ​

Special Note about Travel-Size Items: We encourage those looking to donate travel-size items to donate them to the Backpack Project. The Backpack Project strives to provide Baraboo School District students who are financially challenged to enter the school doors on the first day ‘just like everyone else’ and to show these children the community supports and encourages them to learn and do their best. If interested in donating towards this project, please contact Becky Hovde at 608-963-8230 or hivebiz@centurytel.net.

News
Sexual Assault

Domestic Violence

• Nearly Half of All Murdered Women Are Killed by Romantic Partners: “The CDC analyzed the murders of women in 18 states from 2003 to 2014, finding a total of 10,018 deaths. Of those, 55 percent were intimate partner violence-related, meaning they occurred at the hands of a former or current partner or the partner’s family or friends. In 93 percent of those cases, the culprit was a current or former romantic partner”…Read more
  
• Baseball Challenged by Social Media Accusations of Domestic Violence: “The first five cases Major League Baseball investigated under its new policy had evidence that had already been generated by law enforcement or video. In the cases of Norris and Russell, there was none. This means baseball’s investigators must discern whether the allegations on social media are credible. And though players, under the terms of the new policy, are required to cooperate with those investigators, they may be wary of saying anything that could prompt an investigation by the police… ‘They’re not looking for revenge, they’re looking for an end to the abuse,’ said Kim Gandy, the chief executive of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. ‘There’s a lot of conversations about what are the alternatives for victims who are not looking to have their husband or boyfriend go to jail for five years.’ By turning to social media, she added, victims may also be hoping that pressure from peers, or even employers, will stop the abuse”…Read more

Children & Youth

• The Toll Ongoing Stress Can Take on a Child's Brain: “Many of these kids ‘never know what's going to come next’ at home. But at school, square cards taped at kids' eye level remind them in words and pictures that lunch is followed by quiet time, then a snack, then hand-washing and a nap. Breathing exercises have kids roar like a lion or hiss like a snake to calm them. A peace table helps angry kids work out conflicts with their classmates. The brain and disease-fighting immune system are not fully formed at birth and are potentially vulnerable to damage from childhood adversity, recent studies have shown. The first three years are thought to be the most critical, and children lacking nurturing parents or other close relatives to help them cope with adversity are most at risk”…Read more
• America Sees Alarming Spike in Middle School Suicide Rate: “The suicide rate among 10- to 14-year-olds doubled between 2007 and 2014, for the first time surpassing the death rate in that age group from car crashes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2014 alone, 425 middle schoolers nationwide took their own lives”…Read more
  

Miscellaneous News

• Britain Cracking Down on Gender Stereotypes in Ads: “‘It would be inappropriate and unrealistic to prevent ads from, for instance, depicting a woman cleaning,’ the report said. But, it said, ‘an ad which depicts family members creating mess while a woman has sole responsibility for cleaning it up’ might be banned under the new guidelines…Showing a father ‘trying and failing to undertake parental or household tasks’ could be deemed problematic under the new rules…She said the new standards should not be regarded as a restriction, but as an opportunity for greater creativity. As an example, Ms. Clay referred to ‘This Girl Can,’ a 2015 ad by Sport England, an organization that promotes physical fitness. It showed a wide variety of women and girls — of different ages, shapes and sizes — engaging in fitness activities. Their bodies are far from perfect, and the ad captures the effort and even the frustration of working out”…Read more...Read related article: Why the U.S. Ad Industry Will Never Regulate Gender Stereotypes
  
• If GoDaddy Can Turn the Corner on Sexism, Who Can’t?: “So what did GoDaddy do right? The answer is more complicated than just stamping out overt sexism. GoDaddy also focused on attacking the small, subtle biases that can influence everything from how executives evaluate employees to how they set salaries”…Read more
• Guitarist Stops Performance after Seeing Man Sexually Harassing Woman in Audience​
• Pew Research Center’s Online Harassment 2017: “But nearly one-in-five Americans (18%) have been subjected to particularly severe forms of harassment online, such as physical threats, harassment over a sustained period, sexual harassment or stalking…For those who experience online harassment directly, these encounters can have profound real-world consequences, ranging from mental or emotional stress to reputational damage or even fear for one’s personal safety. At the same time, harassment does not have to be experienced directly to leave an impact. Around one-quarter of Americans (27%) say they have decided not to post something online after witnessing the harassment of others, while more than one-in-ten (13%) say they have stopped using an online service after witnessing other users engage in harassing behaviors. At the same time, some bystanders to online harassment take an active role in response: Three-in-ten Americans (30%) say they have intervened in some way after witnessing abusive behavior directed toward others online”…Read more

Local News

• Jesse Dozier, 30, of Wautoma, charged in Columbia County with felony threatening of a law enforcement officer as a repeated offense, misdemeanor domestic battery and repeated domestic disorderly conduct…Read more
  
• Joshua Bledsoe, 29, of Portage appeared in Columbia County Circuit Court on Wednesday facing three misdemeanor counts of domestic abuse, with a felony case lingering in the background…Read more
  
• Michael S. Huebsch, 36, of Baraboo, charged last year with repeatedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl rejected a deal with prosecutors Friday, and demanded a new attorney…Read more
  
• ​Steve Mitchell, 51, of Mauston, owner of the Thompson Funeral Home in the village of Wonewoc, charged with three counts of possession of child pornography…Read more
• Jonathan R. Wanke, 23, of Tomah, faces six charges, including strangulation and suffocation, after an incident June 25 in the town of Necedah…Read more
• Lita A. Bauer, 21, of Camp Douglas, was charged with first degree recklessly endangering safety and child neglect…Read more
• Chris L. Sussek, 35, of Randolph, entered a not guilty plea Thursday to charges of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old child”…Read more
• Jack T. Morrison, 28, of Mauston, is facing three felony bail jumping charges, along with a disorderly conduct, domestic abuse charge after being arrested June 14…Read more
• Joseph R. Steinmetz, 41, of Mauston, has been charged with felony bail jumping, resisting an officer, and disorderly conduct, domestic abuse…Read more

Parents' & Youth Service Providers' Section

• Why Some People Hide Sexual Assault After Abstinence-Only Education: “‘This can make it harder for them to disclose sexual abuse because they feel ashamed and worry they'll be judged for what happened to them.’ Hiding this kind of trauma from loved ones and the authorities ‘can have long-term effects,’ Cushman reminds us. Whether it’s physical or emotional pain, it can last well into adulthood. For example, Nicole, 26, didn’t report her sexual assault because she wasn’t even ‘aware that it was assault at the time of the incident.’ Growing up in a religious, conservative home, there was an unspoken expectation that she would wait until she was married to explore her sexuality. As a result, she was too ashamed to tell anybody that her best friend assaulted her three separate times when she was 16 years old…Similarly, even though Katie, 30, wasn’t taught abstinence-only sex ed in school, her mother ‘was extremely anti-sex’ and threatened to disown her if she lost her virginity before marriage. Therefore, she kept it a secret from her parents when she was raped in college”…Read more
• The Power of Inclusive Sex Education: “‘We’re not trying to create anything subversive,’ said Cabrera. ‘We’re trying to treat people as people.’ Not supplying that treatment can have long-term effects on kids, said the Human Rights Campaign’s Kahn. Cis-gender, heterosexual students who don’t hear about LGBTQ peers in their classroom are sent the subtle message that there’s something ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ with their peers, and it increases the chance the latter will be bullied. In turn, the stress on LGBTQ students manifests itself in increased risk for depression, substance use, and sexual behaviors that place them at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases”…Read more
• 9 Ways Parents Can Help Bullied Kids Learn Resilience: “Targets of bullying can also benefit from helping others in a similar position, says Michele Borba, author of ‘UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World.’ Kids who have suffered often have higher levels of empathy. She recalls a teen who emigrated from Haiti a few years ago. ‘No one would eat with him,’ Borba says. ‘After he made the football team and gained acceptance, he mobilized other kids, including his entire football team, to sit with students who were eating alone.’ Similarly, 16-year-old Natalie Hampton created the ‘Sit With Us’ app to help kids find people to eat lunch with. After being ostracized the year before, she wanted to help others in the same situation”…Read more

Resources

• 1in6.or’s Online Peer Support Groups for Adult Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse: “These weekly chat-based support groups are anonymous, confidential, and free. They’re facilitated by professional counselors and trained moderators, for adult male survivors who are seeking a community of support. They provide a safe space to discuss issues related to the effects of and recovery from unwanted or abusive sexual experiences. Here are the currently available groups: Monday Group | 9 - 10:30pm CDT and Wednesday Group | 7 - 8:30pm CDT Please join on time, since the door will be closed after 30 minutes. Each session lasts 90 minutes & is limited to a maximum of 12 men”…Learn more
• Connecting the Dots: Recognizing and Responding to Stalking: "The National Center for Victims of Crime – Stalking Resource Center developed a video to enhance the ability of law enforcement to recognize and effectively respond to stalking. The video is designed so that it can either be shown in its entirety or as individual chapters.  The video can be accessed on YouTube here.  There is an accompanying video discussion guide found here."

Training Opportunities

• Wisconsin Serving Victims of Crime Conference Aug. 16-18, 2017, Wisconsin Dells: “Attend this unique conference to gain the latest knowledge and skills you need to serve victims of crime. Learn about innovative victim assistance programs and gain resources for enhancing the services you provide using a multidisciplinary approach. Choose from a wide variety of workshops conducted by knowledgeable experts addressing some of today’s most critical topics and issues facing victims of crime and service providers”…Click here to register
• Wisconsin State Victim Assistance Academy Sep 27-29, 2017, Appleton, WI: "The Wisconsin Victim Assistance Academy focuses on giving victim advocates, counselors, attorneys, and law enforcement the latest knowledge, skills, and legal approaches for best serving victims of crime. The academy will provide you with insights into victims’ rights as well as the trauma that victims are experiencing"...Click here to register