Kansas DUI Impact Center - Poetry and Recruitment

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1 VOICE Where Caring Brings Rememberance and Hope The VOICE is a newsletter of the Kansas DUI Impact Center at 355 North Waco, Suite 220 Wichita, KS Vol. 17, Issue 3 KS DUI IMPACT CENTER Summer Edition that you are not bound or controlled by them. Poetry can also be a positive outlet for releasing emotions. Where: DUI Impact Center, 355 N. Waco, Suite 220, Wichita KS. Anyone who has been impacted by a DUI crime is invited to attend. Refreshments will be served. What: Poetry is a written or verbal way of expressing your thoughts and feelings. Poetry does not have to rhyme, nor does it have to be fancy. Poetry can simply convey what you are thinking and feeling at the moment. Why: Writing and putting our thoughts onto paper can be therapeutic. Reading and sharing poetry with others can be an empowering experience and can help to inspire healing and growth. Once you write things down it helps to externalize your thoughts and feelings, and makes you aware When: 6:30 PM, August 14th. For those who like to prepare, you have plenty of time. If you prefer to be impromptu, feel free to show up and you can create some poetry on the spot! All participants will be eligible for a $20 Wal-Mart gift card drawing! Please RSVP by August 7th with Trent at (316) x. 103 or by at tfrantz@ksdui.org! Upcoming KS DUI Impact Center Voice Groups July 17th Botanica Gardens: Let s explaore the beautiful Gardens of Wichita in a peaceful and reflective environment. August 14th Poetry Slam: Let s tap into our creative sides and express our voice with poetry! September 19th Bowling: Have a ball during an evening of bowling at North Rock! We hope to see you there!

2 Announcements Congratulations to Court Watch Intern, Dora Herrera, on her recent graduation. She graduated from WSU with a Bachelor s degree in Criminal Justice. Great job, Dora! Upcoming Special Events V olunteer Appreciation Day! The KS DUI Impact Center would like to thank our active volunteers & their families with a day of fun 9/27 2-6pm at C-Arrow Stables! Join us for horseback riding (ponies for the kids), games, yummy BBQ, and hay rack rides. RSVP by 9/15 to Tracee at or by at togrady@ksdui.org Saturday September 27, PM - 6 PM C-Arrow Stables 5911 N Maize Rd, Maize, KS Congratulations to Victim Advocate, Trent Frantz. Trent graduated from WSU with a Bachelor s degree in Social Work and is currently pursuing his Master s degree. Keep up the good work! Race to Remember Oct 25, am-12pm Sedgwick County Park 6501 West 21st St N Wichita, KS The KS DUI Impact Center is hosting a 5k run or walk with a kids fun run, commemorating Red Ribbon week this October 25th, to memorialize those who were seriously injured and have lost their lives to a DUI crime. Join us in the Race to Remember! 2

3 Riverfest Sundown Parade! May 30th, 2014 Thanks to all our friends, staff, and volunteers who made this event possible!!! 3

4 Hope in Spring Gala 2014 Message from the Director: The 1st Annual Hope In Spring Gala 2014 succeeded in raising nearly $7,000 towards the mission of serving DUI victims and their families, while increasing awareness of the dangers of impaired driving through community outreach, DUI education, and prevention. I m so very thankful for the Board of Directors, Staff Members, Volunteers, Stakeholders, Corporate Sponsors, and Donors who have shown such tremendous support of the agency, as we forge new pathways in pursuit of our principled goals. I look forward to seeing you all again next year! -Andrie Krahl DUI Impact Center Staff Performance by Kyle Dillingham Executive Director Andrie Krahl & Board Chair David Singleton Wanda Stewart & family The KS DUI Impact Center would like to give a special thank you to our Hope In Spring Sponsors. Through your contributions we are able to fund victim Congratulations to our 2014 Volunteer of services to those directly the Year, Gary Heath. Gary has dedicated affected by a DUI crime, 20 years to the Kansas DUI Impact Center as well as provide offender and our mission. Thank you Gary for education throughout the everything you do! state of Kansas. 4

5 Meet our new Court Watch Interns for Summer 14 My name is Hope Ramirez. I graduated from Wichita State University in 2011 with a Bachelor s of Science degree in Criminal Justice. I am currently working towards a Bachelor s degree in Sociology to be completed in December of 2015, also from Wichita State. After graduation, I plan to pursue employment in corrections as a counselor. My name is Humberto Aldava. I graduated with an Associate of Science degree from Butler Community College. I will graduate in December 2014 from Wichita State University with a Bachelor s of Science degree in Criminal Justice. After graduation, I plan to seek employment with the Kansas Highway Patrol. I hope the information gathered from working with the courts, specifically with DUI cases, will help my future law enforcement aspirations. Participating Universities 5

6 Kansas DUI Impact Center 355 N. Waco, Suite 220 Wichita, KS Local: (316) Toll Free: (800) Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 622 Wichita, KS S u m m e r Kansas DUI Impact Center To charge your charitable donation to the Kansas DUI Impact Center, please call , visit us online at or complete the information below and return this form to Kansas DUI Impact Center located at 355 North Waco, Suite 220, Wichita, KS Method of Payment: Check/Money Order Enclosed Visa MC Discover Name (as it appears on card) Credit Card Number Expiration Date CVV Amount Signature Your donation will fund victim services and increase community awareness through education in Kansas.

7 Volunteer News! Volunteers have been busy! April 25th John and Teresa Groves from Leavenworth were invited to speak at the Leavenworth VA Center for a Lunch and Learn about the dangers of driving under the influence. May 22nd Kelly Rice was the speaker at the Stand Together Coalition s Town Hall regarding underage drinking (to learn more about this coalition, see back side of newsletter!) Kelly shared her story about how her daughter s life was taken too soon by an underage drunk driver s decision to get behind the wheel. June 14th Avis Crobsy, Ajail Pete, Whitney Williams and Tracee O Grady all volunteered on behalf of the DUI Impact Center at the 3rd annual Hero Ride a motorcycle run that benefits law enforcement and their families when they ve been injured/ killed on the job. May 1st Speakers Gary Heath, Kelly Rice, Avis Crosby, Janell Blaufuss and Whitney Williams all shared their Victim Impact stories with over 70 clients of Preferred Family Health Treatment Facilities in Wichita and Winfield. May 13th Jarrod Blecha shared his story with over 350 soldiers at Ft. Riley of how his decision to drink and drive almost killed a small boy. May 14th Kelly Riemann shared her story at the Crime Victim s Right Conference in Topeka about her son who was killed while walking across the street in Kansas City. Kelly s presentation was made to over 25 people who work with victims of crimes on a daily basis. June 18th 11 middle school aged kids came in to volunteer for the afternoon and assisted us in over 23 hours of volunteer work between all of them. To thank them for their hard work, we gave them a DUI Impact Center bracelet. June 20th Avis Crosby and Chris Williams shared their Victim Impact stories with over 150 highschoolers attending Driver s Education in Great Bend.

8 The DUI Impact Center provides services to victims and their families and increases awareness of the traumatic consequences of impaired driving. K A N S A S D U I I M P A C T C E N T E R Volunteer work available Data Entry Currently I have a lot of data entry available for volunteers to come work on and not to mention our goal is to get over 300 volunteer hours between July 1 and September 30th! Sober Drivers We ve started a Sober Driving DD service and will take the consumer and their vehicle home. DD volunteers will drive cars provided by the DUI Impact Center. Currently, our sober driving program is set up by appointment for local events/meetings. To become a volunteer or if you or someone you know is interested in utilizing the service, please contact us right away! Case Media Research A large majority of the cases our Victim Advocates work on are found through local news sites however; it can be very time consuming to attempt to find every DUI related case throughout the state of Kansas were asking for YOUR help to track down as many of these cases as possible. If you see a local story where you think a DUI Victim might be involved, please send that link or information on where to find the information to us so that we can follow up on the case. Stand Together s purpose is to prevent underage drinking and substance abuse in Wichita and Sedgwick County, and strengthen collaboration between community partners on this issue. Currently, Stand Together is focusing on providing education to policy makers and the community on why we need a local social hosting ordinance to complement the state law that provides consequences to adults who serve alcohol to minors in private homes. There are a couple other projects the coalition is implementing that would be great opportunities for new members to get involved. The Stand Together website is: standtogethercoalition.org/ Visit Stand Together on Facebook: Stand Together Coalition A NOTE FROM YOUR VOLUN- TEER COORDINATOR. Speaking on a Victim Impact Panel is a great way to positively impact others in your community but it also serves as a great way to cope with the loss/pain that you may be going through as well. Many speakers enjoy sharing their story, though it never gets easy, because it allows them the opportunity to talk about their loved one and share with others all the great things that you loved about them. Victims who fortunately were not killed, also can benefit greatly from speaking on a panel. People typically think if you lived through it, that you re just fine or lucky even, however; injury cases have shown to have life long consequences as well. Each story is important and relatable to different people attending panels. You never know how YOUR story could change someone s life. TIPS FOR SPEAKING A Victim Impact script is meant to assist you in sharing your story not opinions. Never use derogatory terms whether they are towards the audience or someone else you are speaking about. Don t show more than 2 pictures Be relatable, don t talk down to the audience. Contact me if you are interested in speaking on a panel. Togrady@ksdui.org