Help us celebrate Sheila’s work

09/25/2007

Dear DFLers,


If you live near or have plans to be in the Washington, DC area on October 1, join the Sheila Wellstone Institute at a reception honoring the National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Woman, our second annual Sheila Wellstone Award recipient. David Wellstone, along with members of the Minnesota Congressional delegation and other members of the House and Senate, will speak at the reception, which marks the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

This year's event continues Sheila Wellstone's tradition of displaying artwork related to domestic violence to the nation's capital to raise awareness among lawmakers and the public. This year, Verizon Wireless partnered with Free Arts Minnesota to bring the "Voices of Hope" quilt display to the Russell Senate Office Building from October 1-4. Under the guidance of Free Arts Minnesota, domestic violence survivors from 13 shelters in Minnesota and North Dakota created individual quilt squares depicting what “Hope” means to them and giving voice to their work through their accompanying artists’ statements. Free Arts Minnesota previously displayed a photographic exhibit at Sheila Wellstone's first event in Washington D.C. in 2001.

At the October 1 event, which will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 in the Russell Senate Building Room 325, David Wellstone will present the National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women with our second annual Sheila Wellstone Award. The network, founded in 1992, is a broad-based coalition of more than five hundred organizations and individuals that advocate, provide services, and offer assistance to immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking. To read more about their work, click here.

Funding for this event was provided by Verizon Wireless’ exclusive HopeLine® program, an award-winning program that collects no-longer-used wireless handsets and accessories from any wireless service provider. Phones that can be refurbished are sold for reuse and those without value are disposed of in an environmentally sound way. Proceeds from the HopeLine program are used support domestic violence awareness and prevention programs.

We hope to see you on October 1st if you are nearby. Five years after Sheila and Paul passed away, their work in Washington to end family and sexual violence is very much alive.

Sincerely,

Lonna Stevens
Director, Sheila Wellstone Institute