CHALLENGE #17 - 2015

BOLTON REFUGE HOUSE, INC.
EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN                 


   *****CHALLENGE COMPLETED - 5/19/15)

Back in 1976, a group of women came up with an idea for a Women's Community Center; however, before they had opened their doors, the local police department contacted them and asked if they would provide shelter to a woman and her children who were fleeing a DV situation.   As a result of that call, th...e Center was officially opened as "Refuge House".   After moving to several different locations, they moved in 1987 to a more spacious location.On October 6, 1992, Robert Bolton, an Eau Claire police officer, was responding to a domestic abuse call at the shelter.   Officer Bolton attempted to stop the suspect, who was getting into his car.  However, the man was able to retrieve a firearm from his car and fatally shot Officer Bolton.  Later that year, the shelter was renamed " Bolton Refgue House, Inc." in his honor.

Last year, Bolton Refuge House offered shelter to 124 women and 138 children.   Their facility has 30 beds, with additional cots and toddler beds added when needed.

FOR THIS SHELTER, WE ARE REQUESTING THE FOLLOWING:

  60  Women's   -   DONE

  10  Men's/Teen Boys   -   DONE

  10  Preteen Girls   -   DONE

  10  Preteen Boys   -   DONE

  10  Youth Girls   -   DONE

  10  Youth Boys   -   DONE

  10  Toddler Girls   -   DONE

  10  Toddler Boys   -   DONE

   10  Booties - Girls   -   DONE

  10  Booties - Boys   -   DONE

150  Washcloths   -   DONE

MAILING DEADLINE:    JUNE  15, 2015

MAILING ADDRESS:

     BOLTON REFUGE HOUSE, INC.
     Attention:  Pat Stein, Exec. Director 
     P. O. Box 482
     Eau Claire,  Wisconsin   54702

.......and just like that, 2-1/2 hours later......the CHALLENGE HAS BEEN COMPLETED!!! Thank you all for your pledges!

Also, there is a possibility of a small "Cozies for Pets" challenge for this shelter. They have an onsite pet program for temporary care until outside foster care can be arranged, but the shelter does not have a lot of storage space. We are waiting to hear back from Barb, who is going to check with the shelter.

CHALLENGE #12 - 2015

Rachel and I have been on a little spring break, but we are back and ready to go with a new Challenge.   If you wish to take part in this challenge, please put your pledge in a comment on this post and we will receive it.   The numbers in each category will be updated as soon as possible when pledges come in.   Be sure to keep a record of your pledge, the challenge number, mailing deadline, and the mailing information!   When you finish making the items you have pledged, you will be mailing them directly to the address provided in the challenge.   If you have questions, please feel free to ask us.

WOMEN'S CENTER & SHELTER OF GREATER PITTSBURGH (PA)

It is amazing what can be accomplished when two women see a need, put their heads together, and come up with a way to solve the problem. Rather than trying to rephrase information of the history of this shelter, I have included a link to an In Memoriam page on the shelter's website about these two amazing women. I hope that you will take some time and read about them when you get the opportunity!

http://www.wcspittsburgh.org/page.aspx?pid=525

All of our items will be sent to Barbara Kochuba, of Comfort Scarves of Southwestern PA, who works as a liaison for at least nine or ten DV shelters in this area. She will personally deliver our items to this shelter.

We would like for you to be sure to indicate that your items are part of a Pink Slipper Project challenge. Feel free to download and print (on plain paper, cardstock, or business card stock) the new PSP Tags. A hole can be punched in one end and tied on to your slippers, or if you bag each pair, it could be included in the bag. Also, under your name in the return address on your package, you might include "Pink Slipper Project". This will help Barbara identify our packages for this particular shelter.

For this challenge, we are requesting the following:
  

6 Women's - Large (9-1/2" to 11")   -   DONE

24 Women's - Medium (8" to 9-1/2")   -   DONE

12 Teen Girls   -   DONE

6 Teen Boys   -   DONE

6 Youth Girls   -   DONE

6 Youth Boys   -   DONE

3 Toddler Girls   -   DONE

3 Toddler Boys   -   DONE


MAILING DEADLINE: MAY 9, 2015

MAILING ADDRESS:

          BARBARA KOCHUBA

          408 WASHINGTON ROAD

          PITTSBURGH, PA 15221

CHALLENGE #9 of 2015 has now been fully pledged!! This has been the biggest challenge so far this year with a total of 166 slippers and 155 washcloths pledged. We have had lots of new members join us this week and many of you have jumped right in and pledged! AWESOME!!!! We can't thank you enough for your support.

Are you ready for some combined totals for 2015 so far??? After just 2-1/2 months, our members have pledged and sent/will send 845 pairs of slippers, 810 washcloths, 37 pet blankets, plus 13 sets of knitting needles, 6 crochet hooks, 6 prs. scissors, 12 skeins of yarn, and a $20 Joann's gift card!

How awesome are those numbers? Ladies, pat yourselves on the back for a job well done....and we still have 9-1/2 months to go in 2015. Imagine how many hearts and toes will be warmed by the end of the year by your very generous hearts and hands!

Rachel and Judy

UPDATE TO CHALLENGE #9 - WEAVE, INC., Sacramento, CA

UPDATED:  3/15/15 @ 9:15 PM

The pledges for this Challenge have been coming in very steadily since it was posted on Thursday afternoon. A big "Thank You" to all of you who have already pledged, including all of the new members who have joined us recently! It's great to see new members jump right into a Challenge!

We are still in need of pledges for the following:   17 women's.

Also, we have decided to extend the mailing deadline for this shelter since we have had quite a few challenges in the last few weeks. The new deadline will be Saturday, April 18th.

If you would like to make a pledge (or increase your pledge), please post your pledge in a Comment line below. Thanks for your help .... and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Rachel and Judy

CHALLENGE #9 - 2015

WEAVE, INC.    (UPDATED:  3/15/15 @ 9:15 PM)
Sacramento, California

WEAVE, INC. was established in 1978 as a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to serve domestic violence survivors and their families in Sacramento County, CA.  In 1988, WEAVE added services to help survivors of sexual assault and remains the sole Rape Crisis Center in Sacramento County.  In 2009, WEAVE became part of the local Rescue & Restore Coalition and began providing services to domestic and international victims of human trafficking.  Today, WEAVE implements a continuum of crisis intervention, therapeutic and prevention services to meet the unique needs of survivors, their families, and the community.” 

“WEAVE’s services include a 24-hour Support & Information Line, a confidential emergency Safehouse, walk-in Triage services including a lethality assessment, therapeutic counseling services, legal advocacy, and youth and community prevention education programs.  The organization has grown from a small, grassroots organization to a nationally recognized agency. “

For WEAVE’s Safehouse shelter, we would like to request pledges for the following:

 80  Women's/Teen Girls  -  DONE
    5  Men's/Teen Boys  -  DONE
  10  Preteen Girls  -  DONE
  10  Preteen Boys  -  DONE
  10  Youth Girls  -  DONE
  10  Youth Boys  -  DONE
  10  Toddler Girls  -  DONE
  10  Toddler Boys  -  DONE
  10  Booties - Girls  -  DONE
  10  Booties - Boys  -  DONE
150  Washcloths  -  DONE


MAILING DEADLINE:   APRIL 18, 2015   (New date, extended by one week)


MAILING ADDRESS:    
          WEAVE, INC.
          Attn:  Megan Laurie, Development
          1900 K Street
          Sacramento,  CA   95811

NOTE:    Please feel free to include a note in your package that you are part of The Pink Slipper Project.

This group of volunteers is just so fantastic!!!! Another Challenge completely pledged in less than ONE DAY!! All of you are just the BEST! Thank you so much for opening up your hearts and giving of your talents to create so many much-needed items for these women and children. 

Rachel and Judy

CHALLENGE #7 - 2015

SAFEHOUSE CRISIS CENTER 

Coffeyville and Pittsburg, Kansas

**** CHALLENGE COMPLETED ****

Safehouse Crisis Center is dedicated to serving the adult and child victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in a seven-county area of southeast Kansas. Services are also available for adult males who are victims of domestic violence.

SHCC was started in 1977 as a college class project.  After surveying local social and law enforcement agencies, it was determined that an organized protective intervention was needed.  A shelter opened in 1981 in Pittsburg.  The Coffeyville shelter opened in 1995. 

This is a repeat shelter for The Pink Slipper Project.

We would like to ask for pledges for the following needs:

  36 Women’s/Teen Girls  -  DONE

    4 Teen Boys   -  DONE

    8 Preteen Girls   -  DONE

    8 Preteen Boys   -   DONE

    8 Youth Girls   -   DONE

    8 Youth Boys   -   DONE

    8 Toddler Girls   -   DONE

    8 Toddler Boys   -   DONE

    8 Baby Booties (mixed colors)   -  DONE

100 Washcloths   -   DONE


MAILING DEADLINE:   MARCH 28, 2015

MAILING ADDRESS:

          REBECCA BRUBAKER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

          409 NORTH WALNUT

          PITTSBURG,  KS   66762


As always, if the name of the shelter is not listed in the above mailing address, please DO NOT include it when you mail your package.  It has been excluded for safety reasons.   Thank you!

This challenge is currently running on our Facebook page as well.   If you wish to make a pledge for a certain number of slippers and/or washcloths, please put your pledge in a comment on this post  (number pledged, category and gender).   Thank you.

If you are new to The Pink Slipper Project and have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask us.

Rachel and Judy

CHALLENGE #3 - 2015

Challenge #2 of 2015 (for Turning Point in Wyoming) was posted on Facebook and completed before we were able to post it here on the blog. Kudos to all of our wonderful followers on our Facebook page for getting it finished so rapidly. Now, we are on to Challenge #3 (below). If you wish to jump in and make a pledge, just put your pledge in a comment below and we will receive it. Mailing directions for this shelter will be posted as soon as we have the information....probably early next week.

CIRCLE OF HOPE - GEORGIA

Circle of Hope is a small, 17-bed domestic violence shelter located in Georgia. (It is a confidential shelter - undisclosed location for safety.) In 2011, Circle of Hope was gifted a large home and, with a transitional housing grant, they now have 29 housing units for survivors leaving the shelter. These housing units include one for single women, women over 50 or those with handicaps.

Choose your favorite slipper and/or washcloth patterns (but, please, no bling or button attachments for babies or very young children due to choking hazard). If you are able to crochet or knit with two strands of yarn (one strand #4 plus one strand #3 works well, too), it makes a nice warm, cushioney slipper. Be sure ends are tied off and woven end securely! We want them to hold together and last for a long while.

For our new members, just comment with your pledge in a "Comment" below and then, when we post the mailing address, be sure to copy down the address and mailing deadline for your own reference. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

For Circle of Hope, we need the following number of slippers and washcloths:

25 women's - Still need 9
  5 preteen girls - Still need 5
  5 preteen boys - Still need 3
  5 youth girls - DONE!
  5 youth boys - Still need 1
  5 toddler girls - DONE!
  5 toddler boys - DONE!
  5 booties - girls - DONE!
  5 booties - boys - DONE!

65 washcloths - Still need 5

MAILING DEADLINE:   FEBRUARY 21, 2015

MAILING ADDRESS:    THIS IS A CONFIDENTIAL SHELTER AND CONTACT PERSON AND SPECIFIC MAILING ADDRESS WILL BE ADDED AS SOON AS IT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED.

Well, we are on our way!   The first Challenge of 2015 has been completed!   Shouting out a big THANK YOU to everyone who pledged!   Our members are just SUPER!

It has been a little quiet around PSP for the last few days because Rachel, our fearless leader, has been down with a bit of the flu bug.  Get rested up, Rachel, and we hope you feel better real soon!

In the meantime, here is a list of some free patterns (mostly crochet) that Rachel found and thinks would be wonderful for PSP slippers:

Easy Slipper Patterns

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/knitting/accessory/1-hour-booties---free-knitting/060532

http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/bevs-slipper-squares.html


http://www.goldenbirdknits.com/2009/07/seed-stitch-baby-booties-knitting.html

http://www.knitwits-heaven.com/pocket_book_slippers.htm

http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/maggieslippers.html

www.ravelry.com/patterns/simplegarterstitchslippers

http://goodknits.com/blog/toddler-slippers/

http://archive.org/web/20080617203455/www.yarncat.com/tweed_family_slippers.html

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/operation-christmas-box-slippers

If you find any links that aren't working, please let us know and we will check them out (or delete them from the list.

We hope to have another new Challenge before too long, so please be patient.   In the meantime, please keep on making slippers and washcloths to add to you stash so you will be ready when the next challenge gets posted.

Thank you all for your wonderful support in 2014......and let's make 2015 even better!

Hugs to everyone and hope you have a great day wherever you are!

  ~~~ Judy

CHALLENGE #1 - 2015

     ****CHALLENGE COMPLETED!****
Crossroads Safehouse, Fort Collins, Colorado

Crossroads Safehouse was founded 34 years ago. Through the years they have had a name change and moved to a larger location. In 2011 they were gifted with a former nursing home that was renovated into a statewide domestic violence facility, making them the largest provider in the state. Up to 150 languages are spoken through a 3rd party interpreter service and is available 24/7. Their Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) is composed of highly trained volunteers and advocates available 24/7. They respond with the police to domestic violence incidents. Their Kid Domestic Abuse Response Team (K-DART) also responds with the police to support the children who may have been abused or witnessed domestic violence. These highly-trained teams are in more and more shelters in the past years. Due to lack of storage, we will not send as many slippers as we normally would.

Please use gender neutral colors for the children.

Slippers needed:

 35 women -- DONE
   2 teen boys -- DONE
   8 preteens -- DONE
 10 youth -- DONE
 15 toddler -- DONE
   5 baby/infant -- DONE

100 Washcloths -- DONE


Crossroads likes white washcloths; but, since they use so many, they will take what they can get. If you have white cotton, please use it. If not, use whatever cotton you have that is light in color. You do not need to go and buy white cotton! Something light is fine.

Mailing Deadline: February 9, 2015. All packages should be in the mail by that date.

For confidentiality reasons, PLEASE DO NOT ADD THE NAME OF THE SHELTER if not shown in the address. Thank you.


Send to:

   Pat Parker
   P.O. Box 993
   Fort Collins, CO 80522

Most pledges will be received on our Facebook page; however, you may also make a pledge here in a "comment" on this post and we will receive it.

If you have any questions, please ask. Thank you for helping us get our 2015 Challenges off to a good start!


Rachel and Judy

We will be posting the first challenge of 2015 tomorrow morning.   We have had a lot of new members join our Facebook page and we hope that you will want to join in on our upcoming challenges.  The first challenge will be for a fairly large domestic abuse shelter and we will be needing many handmade (knitted, crocheted, or sewn) slippers and washcloths for them.

In the meantime, here is a list of some free patterns (some knit, some crochet) that you might want to check out.   Hopefully, before too long, we will have lots of links to many other patterns listed in our links in the right-hand column.  

Easy Slipper Patterns

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/knitting/accessory/1-hour-booties---free-knitting/060532

http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/bevs-slipper-squares.html

http://www.goldenbirdknits.com/2009/07/seed-stitch-baby-booties-knitting.html

http://www.knitwits-heaven.com/pocket_book_slippers.htm

http://www/bevscountrycottage.com/maggiesslippers.html

www.ravelry.com/patterns/simplegarterstitchslippers

http://goodknits.com/blog/toddler-slippers/

http://archive.org/web/20080617203455/www.yarncat.com/tweed_family_slippers.html

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/operation-christmas-box-slippers

Don't forget to stop back here tomorrow morning around 10:00 AM for the FIRST CHALLENGE OF 2015!

Rachel and Judy

WELCOME and HAPPY NEW YEAR

With all of the special activities associated with our Fifth Anniversary from August through October and all of the Challenges going on at the same time, there didn't seem to be enough time to keep the blog updated as it should have been.  I am working on getting everything here updated with all of the Challenges we have completed (and there have been LOTS of them, including Helping Hands and Cozies for Pets challenges) in the last several months!

The current challenge for a repeat shelter in Alaska has just been completed and we will be posting another new challenge before too long and it will be posted here on the blog, too.  While our Challenges are posted and most of the pledges are received through our Facebook page, you can always make a pledge through the blog by posting it as a comment in the Challenge post and we will receive it.  Same with any questions you may have.

I apologize for our blog being out of date for a little while and hope to be back up to speed very shortly!

Rachel and I would like to welcome all of our new members who have joined the Pink Slipper Project recently and we wish everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR in 2015!!

JUDY