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Pat Walsh
Pat's Peeps Podcast
Ep. 294 Today's Peep Breaks Free from Domestic Violence: Pat's Conversation with Allie Kephart, Chief Operating Officer for WEAVE Sacramento, Information and Resources
Pat Walsh speaks with Allie Kephart, Chief Operating Officer of WEAVE, about domestic violence, available resources, and how the organization supports survivors in Sacramento. Together they discuss the importance of recognizing abuse in all its forms while challenging harmful misconceptions about violent relationships.
• WEAVE was founded in 1978 to provide safe spaces for domestic violence survivors
• The organization expanded to become Sacramento's rape crisis center in 1988 and began supporting sex trafficking victims in 2009
• WEAVE's vision statement is "when everyone acts, violence ends"
• Domestic violence can take many forms including physical, emotional, financial, technological, sexual and psychological abuse
• Financial abuse affects 90-95% of domestic violence survivors seeking help
• WEAVE operates a 24/7 confidential support line staffed by trained advocates at 916-920-2952
• All services are confidential and survivor-centered, empowering individuals to make their own decisions
• The organization runs two thrift stores where donations help survivors rebuild their lives
• WEAVE offers free educational presentations to help community members recognize, respond to, and refer cases of abuse
• Anyone experiencing or concerned about abuse is encouraged to reach out - you are not alone and it's not your fault
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call WEAVE's 24/7 support line at 916-920-2952 or visit www.weaveinc.org for resources and information.
happy Wednesday to you, my friends, to all the pets peeps podcast listeners. I'm so very grateful. Today is the second day of July and, as I look out my studio windows into the beautiful foothills of Northern California, it is a little breezy, but it's going to be another hot day. Wherever you are, wherever you are listening, I thank you very, very much for that.
Speaker 1:By the way, my name is Pat Walsh and, for those of you who know or maybe don't know, I'm the host of the Pat Walsh Show, as heard on KFPK Radio 93.1 FM, 1530 AM and, of course, streaming live, just like this podcast, and on your iHeart platform and on all of your streaming platforms. Today's podcast is going to be a little more serious and a very difficult topic, and to join me for this very difficult topic today and that we're going to be talking about essentially is domestic violence and some other issues with domestic violence, and joining me to talk about that and I'm very, very grateful for this is Allie Kephart, who is the chief operating officer for Weave Weave, by the way, doing great things in our community for a very long time and, allie, I really appreciate you joining me on my podcast here today.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much for having me. I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1:My pleasure. Weave, by the way, is a Sacramento. Correct me if I'm wrong. This is a Sacramento-based nonprofit organization and what you guys do, like I say, is so great. You support survivors of domestic violence, sexual assaults, sex trafficking and so many other things. Can you tell us about how Weave started?
Speaker 2:Of course you are right. Weave has been in our community for quite some time. We were originally founded in 1978 by three local women who wanted to provide safe spaces for survivors of domestic violence who were attempting to flee the abusive relationships they were in. And over time we have grown and expanded. In 1988, we became the sole rape crisis center for the county. So we provide confidential sexual assault services to victims who need support with a forensic medical exam or law enforcement reports or those types of things exam or law enforcement reports or those types of things. And, starting in 2009, we expanded our services to include victims of sex trafficking as well. So we serve any victim who needs our assistance in Sacramento County, regardless of their age, their gender, their race, ethnicity. Everyone is welcome here.
Speaker 1:I just love that and I love what you guys are doing and I really thank you for what you guys do because it is so very important. One of the things, allie, that brought my attention to this and it's something that I have known people in my life who have experienced domestic violence. For those who may or may not know, it's not always because of my experience in life, it's not always men that do it, but a lot of times it is One of the things, allie, that caught my attention on this one and prompted my phone call to you. It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time was, if anyone is watching the news and I'm not a guy that's going to get into gossip, it's not my thing. I'm not a guy that's going to get into gossip, it's not my thing. I'm not looking at the latest TMZ and all of that I'm not really following along.
Speaker 1:But you know, ali, when I hear this story and, being a talk show host and I follow these stories and you know the case going on one of the things I did want to address that really outraged me quite honestly is in this trial with now P Diddy, which we have some news on that as of today. As a matter of fact, his lawyers had called this relationship that he was having with his girlfriend, cassie Ventura they called it in court a modern love affair. I could not, ali, be more disgusted by his lawyers at the thought of calling this a modern love affair. When you have a woman who is clearly seen on camera in a hotel room we know about that who is being beaten by this man.
Speaker 1:Now, whether or not we get into the courtroom drama of what's happening here, whether or not we get into the courtroom drama of what's happening here, whether or not she texted and wanted to be a participant in some of these what do they call freak offs or whatever these things were going on. That is one thing, and this is just my opinion. That's one component of this, but another, completely separate component is beating this woman and then somehow referring to it as a modern day love affair. I could not think of anything more outrageous than that, Ali. What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2:I mean I would agree with you. It is very disturbing to hear any relationship where we've seen physical violence captured on camera and unfortunately for our victim here shared with the whole world and placing her kind of in a spotlight. It's really concerning to see a relationship that had that component in it presented as any sort of love story. That is not a love story. That is not what we would want to teach our children. It's not what we want to reinforce in our community as a healthy relationship or as what anything that it could remotely be called love looks like. So it is disturbing to hear a relationship that has that component in it described as love.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely, Because you know, all I can think of at this point, Allie, is how many women are in a situation right now who are having to deal with domestic violence, domestic abuse. You know and again I have stories in the past that I know people who have had to deal with this and my heart goes out to them. It is so tragic, and particularly when you hear stories like you know, the idea of them coming home from work, the sound of the garage door opening and the panic that begins inside of you after you, maybe that day raised the kids, interacted with the kids, interacted perhaps with school, Maybe you were at work yourself trying to do your part in this relationship, trying to be loving, trying to do whatever it is as a part of this relationship, and then the spouse comes home and there's this terror that you feel I can only imagine and my heart goes out to those people. I'm sure you hear stories like that all the time at Weave.
Speaker 2:We do.
Speaker 2:And you know, and I think at the core here it's important to stop and think about, as you have mentioned, that there are all kinds of folks who might be experiencing this that many of us encounter on a regular basis on our daily lives, and you may have no idea, because the shape that it takes in any particular relationship might look different.
Speaker 2:So, you know, most people do think about abuse as a physical, having a physical element, and we saw that on full display with P Diddy and Cassie and that recording. But we know that that's only one element of the power and control that gets exercised in these relationships and, to your point, you know, that's what creates such complexity for victims who are trying to do the right thing in the relationships that they're in and trying, you know, to meet all the various needs of the people who depend on them that they're in, and trying to meet all the various needs of the people who depend on them, whether that's their children or their job, or an elderly parent that they care for or anybody else. And those are the complex dynamics where folks feel like they can't escape these relationships or they can't change what's happening with them, and that's just not the case, we there are, there is support for them out there and they are not alone and and they don't need to continue to suffer by themselves.
Speaker 1:Years ago there was, I guess you know, initially when WEAVE came, came about the acronym for WEAVE Women Escaping a Violent Environment. We're talking to Ali Kephart, who's the chief operating officer for Weave, and I greatly appreciate your time and your information today, allie. But it was Women Escaping a Violent Environment, but there was a shift there at some point, I guess, to better reflect the inclusive services that you're talking about at Weave. Domestic violence, sexual sexual assault, sex trafficking is a thing that is in the news now. How that impacts, as you said, all the genders, identities and all of the backgrounds, uh is. Would that be a fair assessment as to why they made that sort of shift from women escaping a violent environment?
Speaker 2:yes, I think that's absolutely accurate. I mean, we do not serve only women, we serve anyone who needs our support in the Sacramento community, and we also recognize that not everyone is escaping something. We have the whole spectrum of experiences for survivors to try to keep themselves safe, or they want to try to gain more information and knowledge so that they can intervene and support a family member or a friend or some other loved one who they think might be experiencing things. So we did shift several years ago and we now, instead of being an acronym, we use a beautiful vision statement, which is when everyone acts, violence ends, and we believe that wholeheartedly because it is the truth. There are hundreds of different ways to act to end violence in our community, whether that's intervening and supporting a loved one, or making a donation, or shopping at our retail stores, or volunteering in a program, or requesting a presentation for your workplace or your classroom. There's a whole different host of ways that folks can act and intervene and try to end the violence that we see happening in our community.
Speaker 1:Wow, and so what WeVE does and correct me. There's several things that you do, including, well, your mission statement. Looking at your mission statement, providing comprehensive services to adult and child survivors, as you just said, of domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking One of the things that you were just saying, ali, is that some people you know they don't want to necessarily break away or, as you say we say, escape, okay, they just want the abuse to stop. And when you said that, it made me think. I don't know. If there's a statistic, I would imagine it would be, but do you have any sort of statistic or percentage, let's say, on how often we see that? Or do you see that that you know they just wanted the abuse to stop and somehow the abuse stopped? Was it perhaps the partner realized they were doing something wrong, realized their mistakes? Was it because we was involved? Do you have any information on that?
Speaker 2:That's a difficult thing to estimate, honestly, because oftentimes if it's stopped we don't hear from the people anymore, because they don't need us anymore.
Speaker 2:But I will say you know what that looks like for us in terms of services that we're providing folks. It might be folks that are coming where they're in a relationship that seems a little off, but they don't know. They need some education, they need some information, they need to be thinking about, you know, how are they engaging in this relationship? How are they setting their healthy boundaries and their expectations? And where is there for lack of a better way to put it line in the sand Where's the thing for them that if the relationship progresses or the behavior progresses beyond a certain point, they have a plan to exit, to leave the relationship and that's all you know. That's all services we can provide support with.
Speaker 2:We do quite a bit with folks around, safety planning and really thinking about what are your resources, what are your support networks, what you know?
Speaker 2:If A, b or C happens, what are you going to do to keep yourself and maybe even your children safe in the moment and oftentimes that doesn't mean actively physically leaving a relationship, or it may be a relationship that's in the past and this person is continuing to pursue them and continuing to harass them, and this person is continuing to pursue them and continuing to harass them.
Speaker 2:Or it may be somebody where, if the survivor who's coming to get support from us learns some new concepts and new tools whether that's through working with an advocate and doing safety planning or through our group therapeutic counseling they may gain some more tools and knowledge where they can take back some of the control in the relationship and the relationship can become more balanced and might be able to turn that corner back into a healthy relationship. So sometimes we see that in folks where their relationship maybe hasn't progressed all the way to being what we would categorize as abusive, but it's starting to show signs. We're starting to see red flags there. We're starting to see indicators that this is unhealthy and not a balanced, healthy relationship. So it's a whole spectrum of services and that's really the most effective way to prevent future violence and intervene if somebody is already experiencing some level of harm.
Speaker 1:Allie Gephardt, chief Operating Officer for WEAVE Sacramento, is joining us as I'm listening to you and I understand that you can only do so much. I understand that you can't go out and read people's minds and all that. I am thinking about the fact that when someone is calling and I ask that question about if there was any numbers or percentage about how much of the abuse may stop, because some people say, as you pointed out, that they just kind of want the abuse to stop, they don't necessarily want to break up the relationship, and then that is a hard question. I realize that and you know, and as you said that you know, sometimes they don't call back and perhaps that means that the relationship stopped. I guess in my mind yes, it could mean that, but in my mind also it could think of right or wrong Maybe the abuser in the relationship realizes the phone call was made, threatens that person, that person never calls back again and that domestic violence is still going on, unbeknownst to you or any other of these groups that can help.
Speaker 2:Is that fair? Yeah, that's absolutely a possibility and it's why it's so important that we have other members in the community besides us who are close to these folks that might be experiencing harm, who can create that safe pathway to get services, who can recognize that someone is experiencing harm or experiencing abuse and provide that safe, supportive space. Describe a victim reaches out for support and the abuser realizes that they've made contact and now they don't have access to their own phone anymore. The abuser monitors their calls, but maybe they have a neighbor who has heard a presentation from us or who listens to this podcast and thinks I see what's happening here and I want to try to help. And the neighbor finds a time, finds a way to safely meet with the victim and lets the victim use their phone to call us.
Speaker 2:And we make a plan with the victim and we help them determine the safest way for them to access support and services and determine what they want to do next, and that really is key for us. What they want to do next, and that really is key for us. Everything that we do, we try to center survivors and we try to empower them to make the decisions that are best for their life, because they are the experts in that. If they want to know that we're here when they're ready, great. If they're looking to make an active plan to leave and they need help with safe shelter, great. If they need help filing for a restraining order, they can reach out to us for that as well. But it's all driven by them. It's all driven by what they need in that moment and what they think will keep themselves and their family the safest.
Speaker 1:I love what you guys are doing. Allie, as I listen to you, I love and thank you on their behalf for what you are doing and I would say and again I'm no expert, you are, I would say, if it were, my friend and again, I've seen these situations and intimately aware of these situations. Don't feel threatened If you are, listen my advice and please tell me if I'm wrong and giving bad advice. Ali, please do what ali just said. Obviously she gave great advice. You know I can tell me she just gave bad advice. She gave great advice. Do what she said.
Speaker 1:Don't feel threatened, do not be afraid. Okay, you need to make the phone call if you're dealing with this. Don't be afraid of that hurdle. Please think about it. Talk to your friends, you know, in terms of presentations, I want to get back to that, but here's another thing that Weave does. Just in case you don't know, weave includes a 24-hour support line. Doesn't matter what time of day it is. Call the support line if you need help, crisis intervention, if you need counseling, allie, if they need legal advocacy, emergency shelter, can we talk about the 24-hour support line?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You're right that 24-hour line is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week with our trained advocates. They are all domestic violence and sexual assault care counselors. They are confidential advocates. They're all domestic violence and sexual assault care counselors. They are confidential advocates. They are extremely well-versed in both providing emotional support and also helping survivors get connected to the resources that meet their needs. So they can.
Speaker 2:If there's a specific something that a survivor already knows that they want or need, that advocate can help connect them or need. That advocate can help connect them. If someone is just calling and saying I'm in trouble and I need help and I don't know where to start. Those advocates are trained to have that interactive and trauma-informed conversation to help survivors understand what's available to them and what they want to focus on and how to connect with those things. Maybe that's our organization, maybe it's our organization plus another one in the community, depending on what they need. But at the end of the day, as you said, you're not alone. Folks are not alone and there is support and there is help out here for them, whether it's our 24-7 support line or any other agency that can help you or can get you to us. Please, please, know that you're not alone, and know that it's not your fault and that there is support and help for you.
Speaker 1:What would that number be for the 24-hour support line?
Speaker 2:Our 24-7 support line is 916-920-2952. And we also offer a confidential chat feature staffed by the same folks that answer that 24-7 support line and that can be accessed through our website, which is wwwweaveincorg.
Speaker 1:Let's go back to and we'll repeat that website for you. So don't worry, and I'll repeat the phone number. I'll let Allie repeat the website and I'll repeat the phone number coming up. But one thing I did I want everyone to know if you are listening to this right now and we do this because we do, as you said earlier if someone's listening to this and they need help. That's why I'm doing this today. That is why Allie Kephart is doing this. That's why Weave is doing this. You emphasize confidentiality, in case anyone out there is very concerned about that Control over the information, sharing for the client, trauma-informed care and more correct for the client, trauma-informed care and more correct.
Speaker 2:That is correct. We are again. Everything we do centers survivors and we're very fortunate here in California that we have strong protections for victims when they are reaching out for support. Those protections are embedded in our state law. They're also embedded in some federal legislation that governs funding that we get. So you can kind of think of us like Fort Knox when folks reach out and talk to our confidential support line. That is confidential. We are not required to disclose any of that information to anybody else unless the victim asks us to. If the victim says, hey, I really need your help with this, can you advocate with this third, can you advocate with this third party on my behalf? And I'm going to give you my permission we will absolutely do that. If it's within our lane and within our scope and something we have expertise to do, that's how we can support. But if they say, look, I need to tell you something and I need to know it's going to stay with us, the answer is yes, it will stay with us. It's their information.
Speaker 1:Talking with Allie Kephart, chief Operating Officer for Weave, here on Pat's Peeps 294. Appreciate this conversation. Let's identify what is domestic abuse. It could be also termed domestic violence. It could be termed intimate partner violence. It can be defined, allie, as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power, to gain control over an intimate partner, and it could be physical, it can be sexual, it can be emotional, as you pointed out, economic, psychological actions, which are just so demeaning and terrible, perhaps threats of actions that influence the partner in the relationship. Any behavior that frighten, intimidate, terrorize, manipulate, hurt. Any behavior that frighten, intimidate, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injure, wound someone. That is domestic abuse Correct and this can happen to anyone, as you say race, age, sexual orientation, religion, gender, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2:You're absolutely correct, it can happen to anyone, it can be perpetrated by anyone. Unfortunately, domestic violence does not know socioeconomic boundaries, it does not know community boundaries, it does not know racial boundaries. It happens across all communities, all income levels, all education levels, and it looks different in each relationship. You're right, we talk about the types of abuse in a few kind of high-level buckets. Physical is often what many people think about, but then there is emotional or verbal or psychological abuse. We see spiritual abuse. We see sexual abuse as a component of domestic violence.
Speaker 2:Using sex to control in a relationship is relatively common. Financial abuse or economic abuse is extremely common. I would say we see probably 90 to 95 percent of the folks who come in for services related to domestic violence report that they've experienced some level of economic abuse. And then the emerging one that we are really seeing kind of come to light is technological abuse Folks being harassed, abused, controlled using the technological devices that are in our everyday life, many of which were designed to make our lives better, but they get misused or misappropriated by an abuser and become those tools of power and control.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, Reading phones, going through phones, no privacy, I mean just awful. And it can also occur, Ali, within a range of relationships, including couples. Maybe you're married, Maybe you're just living together, Perhaps you're just dating. It can, in fact, affect people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, all education levels. So really, as you've been pointing out, it can happen to anyone.
Speaker 1:And some of the signs let's go over some of the signs to just to be aware of to you know, if you're thinking, geez, am I being abused? Am I just imagining this? First of all, if you're imagining it, then I would imagine that there's something that you need to. You need to look into it. If you even feel like you're being abused in some way, look into it. Think about how you're being treated.
Speaker 1:You know, sometimes if I think about this, sometimes the partner can make fun of you, embarrass you in front of your friends, your family, maybe put you down, you know. Make fun of you know, maybe put down your accomplishments, make you feel like you're unable to make decisions. You're just not smart enough. Intimidate, threats to gain compliance. There's so many things. Treat you roughly, grab you, push, pinch any of these things. Sometimes it's drug abuse, Sometimes it's alcohol that plays into this. So there's so many ways into this. So there's so many ways and, as you said, sexually, pressuring you sexually for things that you're not ready for, making you feel like there's just no way out of the relationship, and this is what Weave is here for. So, as we're talking, if any of these things ring true, please do yourself a favor and reach out to those people who can help you. The 24-hour hotline for Weave, the support line, again 24-7 is 916-920-2952.
Speaker 2:916-920org.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, um, you, no one deserves to be abused. Okay, the abuse is. Allie says it's not your fault and you're not alone. Uh, you don't worry about the threats, you know? Call, find a way to call. That is the where you start, allie. As we're kind of wrapping things up here, I would like to ask you what is it that I have not addressed in our conversation here that you want people to know? What have I not brought up here? That's very important that everyone should know.
Speaker 2:I mean I think we've covered a lot of the high level. I just would really want to reinforce for folks, as you mentioned, that this is. You know, this is not your fault. If you're not sure whether what you're experiencing is abuse or it's not abuse, I would encourage you to reach out to our 24-7 support line. We know relationships exist on a spectrum. We talk about this a great deal with folks when we're out in the community doing education, and abuse takes a different shape in each relationship.
Speaker 2:So just because you might not have heard a word that resonates with you on this particular podcast or in this conversation doesn't mean that what you're experiencing might not have heard a word that resonates with you on this particular podcast or in this conversation doesn't mean that what you're experiencing might not be abuse. So please trust your gut. If it doesn't feel healthy, if it doesn't feel safe, if you're not in a relationship where someone, where your partner, is supportive and encouraging and you feel like it's a balanced relationship, please reach out. We're happy to talk. We're happy to answer questions. There are no wrong questions. There are no silly questions. We want folks to have the information that they need to make educated decisions and we also want folks to know that there is support and safety for them here or any organization that they trust. If it's better to speak to your friend who you trust, if it's better to talk to a teacher of yours, if it's better to talk to you know, anybody else in your community that you trust, please just reach out and know that you're not alone.
Speaker 1:And let's take the other side of this. If you are listening to this podcast, if you are, or if you think you may be an abusive partner yourself, if you've recognized anything within yourself that you may think am I an abuser? Maybe someone accused you of that? Maybe there's something within you that's making you ask that question. If you recognize that you're mistreating your partner, again, there are resources in your community for you to assist you to end the abuse. For instance, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is a number. They have resources that can assist you.
Speaker 1:You can look into this yourself, you can do your homework on this and you can understand that the domestic abuse is not only against the code of conduct in the united nations. You may be subject to criminal prosecution under the law, but that's the right thing to do, because you know. If you feel it, then you need to really ask yourself the question am I doing this? Okay, it's an okay thing to ask yourself and to resolve within yourself. Let's talk about a couple things. You brought up Allie One more time. Allie Kephart is a chief operating officer for Weave in Sacramento. Let's talk about your retail stores. Tell everyone what you're doing there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you bet. So we have to really retail locations. Both of these are locations where we take donations from the community. Our community is extremely generous and wanting to share their gently used items so that they can have another life. Those items are processed and put out in our retail stores. Anything that's in those stores are available for our clients if they need things.
Speaker 2:So sometimes, as you might imagine, if folks do choose to leave a relationship, they may leave with very short notice and with very few things, and so they can get clothing for themselves, clothing for their children if they need it on an emergency basis. They can get small household goods if they're trying to rebuild their life emergency basis. They can get small household goods if they're trying to rebuild their life. They can get work clothes if they're interviewing for a job and again trying to rebuild their life.
Speaker 2:And for the things that our clients don't need in the moment they're available for other members of the community to purchase, and all of the revenue that is generated by our stores goes directly back into supporting our programming. We depend on that revenue to fill the gaps between our public funding, our grant funding and our philanthropic giving, because every single one of our programs is more expensive to operate than we get funding for, so we have to fill in the gaps, and those retail stores are a critical aspect of it. So if you're looking for something to donate, please feel free to donate. Information about where and how and when is available on our website, or you're welcome to call our business office or our support line. And if you're looking for somewhere to shop, please patronize both of the locations. We have one on Arden called Weave Thrift and then we have another called the Thrift Store, which is down on Fruit Ridge.
Speaker 1:I love it. I will begin shopping there again. So that's Arden, what was it? Arden Weave, what was it?
Speaker 2:Arden Way. It's Arden Way and it's called Weave Thrift.
Speaker 1:Weave Thrift. Okay, I'm going to write that down because I'm going to go shopping there. Allie, what was the other one again?
Speaker 2:And then the other one is called the Thrift Store, which is on Fruit Ridge.
Speaker 1:Oh, sacramento, my old stomping ground on Fruit Ridge. Okay, very good. Go back to a couple more things here. If you want a presentation you pointed out a couple of times about a presentation what if someone wants a presentation? Do they just go to the website? Do they call?
Speaker 2:How do they do that? Either one.
Speaker 1:There is no wrong door.
Speaker 2:Here On our website there is a presentation request form, a link to a presentation request form, so you can let us know who your audience is, what you're hoping for us to come present on. We have sort of a standard set of curriculum, but we're also happy to tailor curriculum to the group and to the time period that you have available for us. We can provide virtual presentations. We can provide in-person workshops. We're happy to be flexible and try to accommodate as many requests as we can provide in-person workshops. We're happy to be flexible and try to accommodate as many requests as we can, given our capacity and our staffing. So please don't hesitate to reach out. We will. We will do our best to work with you and get you what you need are these free or do they cost?
Speaker 2:they are for free. We are very pleased to offer it to the community and to be able to bring this information and important tools for folks, whether it's education for somebody about what they might see in their own life or information about how folks can recognize, respond and refer appropriately if someone that they know is experiencing harm. And that's really the crux of what we hope folks will do is we use that recognize, respond, refer model quite a bit Understand, recognize the signs that someone might be experiencing harm, respond in an empathetic, trauma-informed way that doesn't judge them, that makes them feel seen and heard and believed, and then help refer them to folks like us or another organization like us who can give them the specific resources that they need.
Speaker 1:And one final question for you is and I imagine people can go to the website, but I'd like you to expand on that if you can. What if people want to volunteer? So this is a really good cause. I'll have a little bit of time. I can donate either financially or maybe I can volunteer. How do they do that?
Speaker 2:That's a great question. Yes, there is, of course, information on our website, but we also you're welcome to reach out to our info at wevincorg email address or call our support line as well. Let us know we have a wonderful volunteer coordinator community engagement coordinator who helps make sure that folks get connected with volunteer opportunities that align with their interests and their commitments, and we have a whole host of opportunities. It could be things like hey, I want to help out in the store on a weekend. Or it could be hey, I want to go through your peer counselor training because I want to be able to volunteer to respond to sexual assault victims and provide accompaniment during their exams. We're happy to explore any option that somebody is interested in.
Speaker 1:Very, very, very good. I just really really appreciate that. And listen. If you are a Pats Peeps listener, do yourself a favor, do Weave a favor. Go check out their locations, okay, the Arden Weave store on Arden or the thrift store on Fruit Ridge go check it out. I'm calling on all of you who are Pat's peeps to do that, to support in any way you can. And I want to say this please, please, if you're listening and any of this resonates with you and you need to get out of a situation or you need to remedy a situation and you need help, please, please, think about Weave, call them and see what people can do, what this organization can do for you. Allie Gephardt, I greatly appreciate your time today and thank you for everything that you're doing.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure to be with you today.
Speaker 1:Allie Gephardt, Chief Operating Officer for Weave. Thank you for listening to Pat's Peeps 294.
