Advocacy and Resource Center details services, asks city to back domestic-violence awareness proclamation

The city of Sheridan on Sept. 15 adopted a proclamation recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and heard a year‑to‑date service update from the Advocacy and Resource Center.

Yvonne Swanson, executive director of the Advocacy and Resource Center, told the City Council the nonprofit provides crisis intervention, court advocacy, safety planning and referrals for victims of violent crime. “Our key responsibilities are emotional support… crisis intervention… court advocacy,” Swanson said as she outlined the organization’s role working with hospitals, law enforcement and the county attorney’s office.

Swanson said the center recorded 456 people served across the most recent 12‑month reporting period she used in her presentation: 59 were children and 397 were adults; 357 clients identified as female and 99 as male. She said staff logged 8,088 in‑person contacts, 1,594 phone conversations and 325 emails during that period. Swanson added that 36 people filed family‑violence protection orders, 28 filed stalking protection orders and six filed sexual‑assault protection orders during the same reporting window.

The council also heard a separate figure read from the proclamation text: that the center served approximately 251 individuals for domestic‑violence incidents and received 972 hotline calls in one year; Swanson told the council both the center’s different reporting frames and the variety of grant and fiscal reporting cycles explain different totals. In addition she said the hub provided 64 nights of safe shelter for 24 victims and one child in the cited period.

Swanson described the center’s 24‑hour crisis line and volunteer training. “We have a 24 hour crisis line where we have volunteers and advocates on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” she said, and added the center moved the line in‑house so callers reach a trained person rather than an answering service. She said volunteers receive a 40‑hour training and the center performs background checks for crisis‑line staff.

The director described referrals from law enforcement: of the 456 people served in Swanson’s 12‑month window, she said 117 were referred by law enforcement; 82 of those received crime‑victim compensation forms that list rights and contact information for the county attorney, law enforcement and the center. “It’s also known by statistics that the faster we get to a victim to help them start healing, the more inclined they are to follow through,” she said.

Mayor Richard Bridger and council members thanked Swanson and her staff for their work. Council members and Swanson discussed funding sources; Council members noted the center’s operating support is derived from community‑authorized revenues and grants rather than direct appropriation from the council. Swanson said the center leverages local public support to secure state and federal funding.

The council signed the proclamation designating October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and encouraged citizens to participate in the Advocacy and Resource Center’s programs and events.

Ending: The council did not take a separate funding action during the meeting; Swanson asked that residents contact the center for more details about services and monthly statistics.