New head of YWCA of Glendale wants to expand efforts to help domestic violence victims
The new head of the YWCA of Glendale says she wants to expand the nonprofit’s efforts to help victims of domestic violence by launching new programs to prevent it.
“I want to begin to think about prevention and figure out how we can stop domestic violence from occurring in the first place,” said Tara Peterson, the organization’s new chief executive. “Who do we need to engage in these conversations and what programs can we put into place?”
One of the main duties in her new role will be to oversee the 10-bed emergency shelter for women and children fleeing physically abusive relationships or households.
Peterson is no stranger when it comes to helping domestic-violence victims, having trained YWCA staffers in the past and also visited many similar shelters throughout the state.
She has worked with policymakers on how to reduce the impact of the issue and counseled low-income pregnant women and parenting teens.
Peterson has also served on a Blue Shield advisory committee against domestic violence and has also worked with the National Network to End Domestic Violence.
Stepping into the executive director role in Glendale will let her live out what she loves doing, she said.
“My passion is not only serving victims, but also building strong organizations,” Peterson said. “I felt like this was a great opportunity for me to get into that type of work and work directly with a program that directly serves the community.”
She’s made it clear that one of her main goals is to have more outreach in the community to raise awareness about domestic violence and to do that, she’s going to need a bigger staff.
Aiming for more fundraising and grant money will be part of her goal, but also taking care of the employees already with the Y.
“They do a whole lot for very little and that inspires me and motivates me to create a stronger program, so that we can take care of our team and they can provide the services to the people that come into our shelter,” Peterson said.
But even before any of that happens, she said there’s one crucial rule everyone should know when it comes to domestic violence if a person witnesses it: “If you see something, say something,” Peterson said.
“This is not a private matter,” she added.
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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com
Twitter: @ArinMikailian
