Pretty Bird Woman House: Over $80,000... OMG, Thank You and Happy New Year!

In October, Betsy Campisi, a volunteer on the last Pretty Bird Woman House fundraising drive called Georgia Little Shield, the shelter director to check in. After all, after the previous May fundraiser, things looked great - Pretty Bird Woman House had a building, funding from the Netroots until a grant kicked in in... things were going well. But when Betsy spoke to Georgia she heard grim news.

Our shelter was burned down. They stole everything. Then they burnt it down.

Betsy asked; how much to buy a new house with a security system? The answer: $70,000. Worse, all the grants Pretty Bird Woman House depended on required a physical building to use as a shelter. They needed the money FAST. It seemed so unlikely back in October that it could even be done...

Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and just hope that the net is there to catch you. This time there was no net. But you wonderful people... you wove that net even as everything was falling off the edge. You wove the net out of blog posts and $5 donations, out of human love and compassion.

If you are not familiar with the story behind Pretty Bird Woman House you can get a pretty complete history right here.

Wow, I don't cry often but today when I surfed over to the Pretty Bird Woman House Blog and saw this:

well, I pretty much lost it..

The timing could not have been better - Pretty Bird Woman House had a Board of Directors Meeting today. All of the Board of Directors and the advocates who work for the Pretty Bird Woman House had come into town for the meeting. Shelter Director Georgia Little Shield checked the Chip-In before the meeting started:

Everybody broke down in tears... thank you, thank you, thank you! The Board of Directors was shocked. The girls (the advocates) were crying they were so surprised.

Even more amazing - they have not finished counting the checks that have arrived in the mail yet - we have really raised more than $77,000 for Pretty Bird Woman House... in fact, it might be well over $80,000 by the time the counting is done. You did not just buy a women's shelter - you bought furniture, paid some of the energy bills, got a top notch security system... Georgia has promised me she will keep us updated on how the money is used. They have a donated digital camera and she will photograph things as they happen so that we can see.

Georgia went on to tell me that her life experiences with domestic violence and abuse as well as the horrors she sees on a day to day basis sometimes catch up to her and darken her world.

But this.. this has totally amazed me and given me hope - that there are so many good people out there. Strangers who actually care.

Now the voices of these women will be heard!

A new energy fills Pretty Bird Woman House; the staff does not spend its time trying to figure out how to make ends meet for tomorrow, unable to see how they can function next week, let alone the next month. Already things are falling into place. They have a bid in on a house across from the police station; if that does not work out for any reason, they have other buildings in mind.

Georgia is expanding the services offered by Pretty Bird Woman House - she has applied for two new grants and wants to hire two advocates who will specialize in working with victims of sexual assault. And Pretty Bird Woman House has a new volunteer advocate. Those of you who followed this story will remember her. Back in October Georgia told us about the situation this remarkable woman was in:

I recently attended a court sentencing of man that pled guilty to a charge of sexual assault against a Native American Woman and the Mayor of his town testified that he was an up standing community member and that the community would except him back with open arms and to just give him probation.

That's right; the new advocate for victims at Pretty Bird Woman House is the woman who was raped by this man. She is completing this circle and as part of her healing is reaching out to help others.

So who did this? Who is behind this amazing achievement?
A lot of people seem to think that Betsy Campisi and myself, Andy Ternay did it... and that is so wrong. We were just along for the ride, man.

The person who started Pretty Bird Woman House is Jackie Brown Otter. She did it in memory of her sister, Pretty Bird Woman, who was raped and murdered. Georgia Little Shield is the director of Pretty Bird Woman House. About seven Lakota Sioux (some may be Dakota Sioux - my apologies if I have gotten this wrong) women have been the core of this whole project, they nurtured the dream and made it reality.

The progressive netroots would probably never have heard of this if Daily Kos user Norman Bier had not heard a National Public Radio story on an Amnesty International Report detailing how terrible the plight of Native American women was with regard to sexual assault. Norman Bier diaried on Daily Kos about the fact that without funds, Pretty Bird Woman House would close - and over 600 people responded with $27,000 to keep the shelter running until grant money kicked in.

That's how Betsy got involved. I only got involved after reading a diary by Winter Rabbit called Pretty Bird Woman House: Let's Unbury some Hearts. Daily Kos frontpager Devilstower gave the fundraising a jolt of lightning when he frontpaged a fundraising diary.

Some Individual Mentions
I know I will leave some people out... and I apologize, there have simply been too many to thank or remember... literally over a thousand people, probably around 1,100 or more have been involved by donating money, time, clothing, blogging about it... but there are some I want to mention and I just hope I don't hurt any feelings by missing anyone. Please, it is not that your contribution was unimportant; it's that either space, time or just my human errors made me forget.

noweasels diaried and contributed - frequently

Rain at Street Prophets kept frontpaging us (loggersbrat, ogre and many other SP's were hugely helpful!

martydd contributed the most number of times; he swore a $50 donation for each diary I wrote and he wound up donating above and beyond that

bubbanomics has donated in the nick of time several times so that funding challenges would not be missed

SallyCat did a huge clothing drive for the cause

one anonymous contributor gave $6,300 our largest single contribution

our second largest was $5,000

The anonymous person who gave our smallest contribution ($2.00) tugged at my heartstrings because s/he was back several times with small contributions - s/he inspired me because this is a perfect example of giving what you can, when you can. Thank you.

Raw Stats

14 people gave over $1,000

14 people donated over $500 but less than $1,000

150 people donated over $100 but under $500

66 people made mutiple donations

Very rough estimate is that about 60% of donors were female, 40% male... not all names are clear, several donated as a family, etc. but overall, much more even numbers than I had expected.

934 individuals donated via Chip-In - that number will go up when checks are counted

Blogs Honor Roll:
All Spin Zone
Angry Black Bitch
Bitch PhD
Black and Missing but not Forgotten - this blog exists to publicize missing black women in the hope that they can be found, or at least not forgotten. It's terrible to know there is a need for a blog like this, but it's wonderful that Deidra has chosen to to this. I know she is a Christian, but I hope she won't mind me wishing that the Goddess bless her and hold her.
Ciannait at Live Journal who also did a big challenge grant.
Coleen at livejournal
Nezua Limon Zolagrafik-Jonez on Corrente
Daily Gotham
Daily Kos
Docudharma
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
elynross
Feministe
Nezua Limon Xolagrafik-Jonez on Jesus' General
Left In The West
Melekakimaka: Christmas in Hawaii
Mole333 at Culture Kitchen
My Left Wing
Nezua Limon Xolagrafik-Jonez at Culture Kitchen
Obsidian Wings
Offsprung: Lock the Bedroom Door
one tenacious baby mama
Other Guild? Whatever that may be
Our Bodies, Our Blog
RadGeek
Radical Doula
ShakespearesSister
Shakesville
Street Prophets
The Unapologetic Mexican
Vox ex Machina
Wampum
Wild Wild Left
Women's Health News
Zillah's Gin

(Editorial note from Betsy: If you're not mentioned above and you have put this story in your blog, we'd love to know! Just tell us in the comments...thanks)

The Future For Pretty Bird Woman House
This time around we won't lose touch; Georgia is planning on launching a regular newsletter... if you donated, you will get it (I will work with her so that you can opt out; Georgia is an incredible woman but she is not net savvy). We'll do periodic diaries on Daily Kos and Street Prophets. Betsy and I are hoping to take a trip out and visit the new house when it is set up.

Hopefully we have put Pretty Bird Woman House in a position to be self-sustaining. It is great that we helped, but they must be able to thrive and grow on their own. We provided extraordinary assistance at a time of extraordinary crisis, which is appropriate. Personally, I think they are on the way. I expect them to keep growing.

The Future For Native American Women: Obtaining Equal Justice
Well, truthfully I have been so busy with the fundraiser I have not really thought about this but I am going to make this a part of my life. How can we expect justice in Iraq when our own people are treated this way? We have to put an end to it.

I am starting my research with Senator Byron Dorgan's concept paper on improving law enforcement in Indian country. More information and places to submit comments are here. But that's about as far as I have gotten with this. Maybe in comments people can suggest other places to go.

So the fight is not over by any means... but for now we celebrate an amazing victory!

WE DID IT! WE BOUGHT PRETTY BIRD WOMAN HOUSE A NEW HOUSE!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR PROGRESSIVE NETROOTS!!

You can still Donate here!.

Pretty Bird Woman House is a 501 (c) 3 charitable organization.

More info here:
Pretty Bird Woman House Blog - many more resources and links here!!
Amnesty International Report-Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA
Why traditional fundraising avenues are closed to Pretty Bird Woman House
A Fairly Complete History of Pretty Bird Woman House.
Pretty Bird Woman HouseYahoo Group.

Did You Notice?

(updated on Saturday) We received a large donation on Friday afternoon through the ChipIn. That, combined with the checks the shelter has already received, took us to, as they say at the soccer games, GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!

TODAY (Sat) we had another huge donation, and that took the ChipIn itself over goal. Can you believe it?

Look for a full account of the donations sometime late on Monday (New Year's Eve). By then we'll have a better idea of exactly how much we've raised, since some new checks have come in this week that haven't been tallied yet.

But TONIGHT (SATURDAY), AndyT (MacFishPagan) will do a big THANK YOU NETROOTS diary on Kos. He'll post it here as well.

You all are such wonderful, generous, and caring people, I'm speechless.

I am going to keep the ChipIn widget up through its original cut off date of January 31st, since the shelter can still use all the donations it can get - after all, this is an expensive endeavor.

I will update you on how the funds will be spent and the house situation as I get more complete information. In the meantime...

THANK YOU, BLESS YOU, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!


(If you haven't read it already, don't miss the letter right under this post. Also, it would be great to leave a comment for the shelter staff)

P.S. I started this blog on October 23rd. That means that all of this happened in less than 9 weeks. Can you believe that? I am still amazed.

Letter from a Pretty Bird Woman House Board Member

Dear all current and prospective donors:

I just received this email from one of the PBWH board members, and I must share it with you.

If you ever wonder whether you can make a difference in the world, you should read this letter.

If you have already donated, please read this letter. It might just bring a tear to your eye.

I just feel as if we, as a B.O.D, have been so remiss in not expressing our wonder and awe at what the good folks out there have done and are doing for Pretty Bird Woman House.

Last spring when Norman Bier stood up on behalf of the women of Standing Rock and set up the Chip In Site, we talked and talked about writing a letter. And now, you and your friends are doing the same so we can have a Shelter! It really does take one's breath away....truly!

Two of us live about 100 miles from McLaughlin and when we do gather at the Office their for our Meetings, we have so much to ponder and look at. We've worked long and hard to develop and set into place all of our Policies/Procedures, etc. and all of the other every day things that come up and need to be dealt with. We are working very hard to make sure we dot every i and cross every t!!!

I think one of the biggest problems is that there are not words to truly convey how we feel. I remember one day last spring, while we were having a Meeting, Georgia brought the mail and handed each of us a stack, telling us to start opening it. Betsy, in less than 10 minutes, I was holding a little under $15,000 in my hand! For Pretty Bird Woman House! I couldn't speak; we just looked at one another and cried.

Our vision, our dreams for the women of Standing Rock....it's happening and it is happening because of folks the likes of yourself, Norman, your colleagues, and all of the caring folks out there who believe and want to make a difference in the world.

I think of those 61 courageous women from Standing Rock, as well as the women from Alaska and Oklahoma who came forward to Amnesty International with their stories. What they did was so very brave and risky. We know that many of them had never ever told their stories before, some of them were Elders in their 60's and 70's!

What I'm saying is the actions of all of you, once you read the A.I. Report, tells women and their children...."we believe you and you don't have to live that way. You have a right to be safe and we're going to help you be safe." Too many times, women are doubted and not believed.

So, to each and every one of you, thank you for believing and standing beside each one of us!

Working to end violence against women and children, I am

Respectfully,
Shirley Erhart
Rural Outreach Advocate/CISS
B.O.D. Member/PBWH

P.S. Isn't our Georgia just a gem? I consider it a gift to have her in my life.....
I am blessed to call her a Sister

(there is a link to the Amnesty International report to which she refers on the right side of this page)

YOU are Buying THIS house!!!

Georgia has put in a bid on the house in these photos. We need donations urgently right now since there was only enough money for a really low bid, which makes things still a bit tenuous. And then there will be closing costs and a security system and fence to install. So, please keep passing the word. We're so close.

You can already see that your efforts make such a big difference. Where else can you see donations doing something so huge so fast? This is truly a community effort.

Here are the photos of the house. Isn't it great!

Front:



Living Room:


Kitchen, View 1


Kitchen, View 2


Dining Room:


There is also a huge basement, which will house a children's playroom, and a small thrift shop to support the shelter, and has great general potential.

The next large item is a security system. With security cameras. A good one (which is a must in this situation) is at least $7,000 - $10,000 installed. And then we'll need a fence. That's going to be another large chunk of change. Since this is a one story house, and we don't want batterers to try to get into those bedrooms at night, the fence is vital in addition to the security system. We don't want a repeat of the theft and vandalism either.

OK, and because of the prior theft they're also going to need a TV, VCR, DVD player, and the entertainment center to put them on. Boy it really sucks that they got so much stuff stolen! They're also going to need a washer and dryer, as well as new dressers, 2 more bunk beds, and 2 more double beds, since more women and children will be housed here than in the other shelter. They also will need extra couches and chairs because the living room is so big, and the outside of the house needs a new coat of paint. Those items are all important, but the money to seal the deal for the house and buy the security system is the most urgent.

So please everyone, keep passing the word. We are SO close.

Lets buy the women of the Standing Rock reservation a house for Christmas!

P.S. The shelter also just received another federal grant. If we can get this house, that grant will pay for utilities, food and other expenses. It's also funding another advocate. So, we've got great long-term viability here, we just need to help them with their infrastructure!

Donors: A Note You Must See

If you have donated to PBWH or are thinking about doing so, you should know that your effort has concrete, immediate results for women who need a safe place to go. Georgia is in the process of securing the house, so we need more donations to make sure they don't have to wait months just to get a small mortgage approved.

Lets make this happen for Christmas!

I wanted to share this comment we received on the blog, just to show you the impact this has on people's lives.

I think this is, what we say in Lakota country, Ata Kili, Lela Waste.... in other words "Cool beyond words, and really good". I'm from the neighboring resevation and understand how important it is for woman and children to have a safe and warm place to escape to. I was one of those women, years ago, with two babies, that had to run in the extreme cold to escape an abuser.

Each and every one of you who have donated are indeed helping to create a save haven for women and children. And although they may not get to thank you in person, each one is silently thanking you as they will finally be able to crawl into a safe and warm bed and sleep safely. You are all "Ata Kili".....

thank you for being dedicated to PBWH and creating this blog.... Zintkala Waste Wiyan is smiling and thanking you from the heavens.

Also, as contribution to help spead the word, I'll put this in the Coalition (SDCADVSA) newsletter and a link on their website

Wopila (Sincere Thank you) for all your effort helping PBWH.

Holiday Shopping? Don't forget iGive

On Friday, we made our 50% mark and then some, and we're soooo grateful to you all for that! Actually, we're 51% there, which also happens to be the percentage of women in the world population.

I just wanted to remind you that you can passively donate while you do your holiday shopping by using iGive for your online purchases. Through this program, more than 680 stores (probably your favorites) will donate a percentage of your online purchase to the shelter, at no cost to you. There are some good bargains and specials too. You can either click on the iGive button on the bottom right side of this page, or go here

If a few hundred people sign up, we'll have a permanent income stream for the shelter as well!

Also, if you go down the right side of the page to Good Search and install it in your browser, it will also generate donations when you browse. I generated .78 without even trying. Imagine hundreds of people doing that each month!

Thanks everyone. I hope you're enjoying the holiday season.

THURSDAY UPDATE: since I wrote this post the other day, the 10 people who have signed up for iGive have generated over $15 in donations without even trying. Lets make it 500 people! Imagine the amount of passive income that could generate for the shelter every month. All the major stores have signed up for the program (except Amazon - bad on them!)

I Just Wanted To Say: Thank You.

Over the past week (well, okay, two weeks) we have begged, bartered, cajoled, argued on behalf of Pretty Bird Woman House with the goal of reaching $35,000 by midnight Friday and the netroots, particularly Street Prophets and Daily Kos, came through with flying colors (orange and blue):



Your donations have made a huge difference. As a result of what they have seen, the Board of Directors for Pretty Bird Woman House has decided to start the process of purchasing the house. This means that PBWH may have a house very soon - soon enough to have a shelter for women this winter - when temperatures in South Dakota are lethal.

The only reason this is happening is because of your kindness.

I wanted to share betson08's (the head of this whole campaign, she deserves much applause - putting this together even as she finished her doctoral dissertation and looked for a job!!) email to me this morning:

spoke to Georgia yesterday. They're going to do an official tour of the house with the real estate agent and talk to the bank about putting the money down on the house and getting a mortgage for the rest, based on predicted donations. Apparently another shelter was able to do that.

The offices they're in now are unheated and I guess one of the rooms is too big to heat with one of those radiator space heaters, so they're all freezing. They can't plug in another heater because it blows the circuits. I think they're getting cold enough to not worry about having all the money at once. They just need to get the house
already.

Georgi Little Shield, Shelter Director sent a very brief email of thanks early yesterday:

Looked in the paypal account and the total with out checks is $33,658.35. That is great. plus the checks of 2000.00 something wow you guys are fantastic people.

Please, do not mistake her brevity as indicating she takes this for granted. Georgia is a woman of very few words in emails and her gratitude is much deeper and heartfelt than any brief email could convey.

As for me... I just love these communities. You guys are the most wonderful people, all of you. I have so enjoyed being a part of Street Prophets and Daily Kos over the years - I come here to visit my tribe, if you will. This is where I find hope even when it seems so very bleak with torture, war, corruption and the media aiding and abetting the whole damn mess. So, here, again, let me tell you thank you. You guys are superheroes.

THANK YOU!!

Now a last bit of business. We're well over halfway there, but I am tired of treating my tribe/friends/allies like an ATM. We really need a creative, imaginative way to raise the remaining $33,000. And in a way it's even more important now - they are buying a house with faith that as they step into the abyss we are waiting with a net to catch them. Time to start weaving that damn net!!

So, please, yes, if you can DONATE

But equally important, or even more important - join us and let us know your ideas or help us bring to fruition an idea already out there.

It looks like we are slowly going viral on livejournal - we are getting many hits on the blog and some donations and our Facebook App is spreading. We have a team working on an application for Extreme Home Makeover (please don't bombard them with requests to do PBWH - trust us, we have a way to approach them that offers a lot of promise). Another team is approaching Oprah. We are signed up for igive which gives a percentage of your online shopping to PBWH.

What are we failing to do? What are we overlooking? How come last fundraising drive it was covered on so many different progressive blogs like Firedoglake and the feminist blogs... no posts at all. Can you help us change that?

Finally, for those of you who need more info, here are Links:
Pretty Bird Woman House Blog - many more resources and links here!!
Amnesty International Report-Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA
The Story of Pretty Bird Woman House
Why traditional fundraising avenues are closed to Pretty Bird Woman House

Again, thank you. Have a great weekend.