It's a GO!!

First of all, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the entire netroots community for your commitment to the survival of the Pretty Bird Woman House. Helping this shelter has been one of the most gratifying things I've ever done, and some of that has to do with the outpouring of caring and compassion that I witnessed while I was doing this project.

This morning I received an email informing me that the McLaughlin City Council had unanimously approved the shelter's petition to operate in the house it wants to purchase. This was a wonderful accomplishment given some initial misgivings that some of the City Council Members had expressed.

They had another meeting last night, and as with everything involved in this project, the best in people finally came out.

Last night, the Council unanimously voted to approve the shelter's request. Unlike the first meeting, only positive remarks were made about the shelter staff and its future residents. As Georgia just told me:

At that meeting, everybody was for us, nobody spoke up against us.

This included the Chief of Police, who testified that the police really need the shelter to help them with women who are victims of domestic violence.

So, in the end, it seems that the mayor recognized that the shelter's opponents just needed more information, and that his move to postpone the vote was a wise one. Here's what he told the Rapid City Journal today.

“I think it’s going to be good. I think their hearts are in the right place,” Dumdei said of shelter officials. “Everyone’s trying to do what’s right. We just wanted to make sure that we had public input and everybody understands it.” ...snip...

Dumdei said it was important to give citizens time to ask questions and feel comfortable with the planned relocation of the shelter, which is the only domestic-violence sanctuary on the Standing Rock reservation.

Amnesty International also provided a letter in support of the shelter, which the mayor cited at the meeting. Here is part of that letter (sorry I don't have a link, it was emailed to me):

Programs run by Native American and Alaska Native women are vital in ensuring the protection and long-term support of Indigenous women who have experienced sexual violence. Shelters operated by Native American women are particularly important in order to provide the culturally appropriate supportive environment needed. However, lack of funding is a widespread problem all over the US, including in South Dakota – and in many locations no such support is available. In our report, we highlighted the work of Pretty Bird Woman House, a sexual assault and domestic violence program on the Standing Rock Reservation. At the time of Amnesty International’s report in April 2007 Pretty Bird Woman House did not have funding for direct services for its clients, but helped women to access services off the Reservation. Amnesty International believes that it is imperative that the Reservation have its own shelter.

....snip....

The support that Pretty Bird Woman House has received from individuals all over the US is indicative of the response that Amnesty International has seen to this issue in general. Many people feel deeply touched by the injustices suffered for decades by Native American women, and want to help. Authorities at all levels are responding as well – at the U.S. Senate level, legislation will be introduced within the next few weeks. In Oklahoma, state laws ensuring the availability of rape kits for all women have already been passed.

The advocates, who have been running Pretty Bird Woman House for the past years with few funds but a lot of determination, have been fighting alone for too long. It is time that we stand up together and say no to violence against women – and time to support a shelter which will make all the difference in the world to women at a time when a helping hand is desperately needed.

Today, they also issued a press release that contained this information and thanked the City Council for approving the shelter.

It seems to me that the netroots worked really well in tandem with Amnesty International on this whole project, taking up the call they issued about the shelter in their report, United States of America: Maze of injustice: The failure to protect indigenous women from violence as its own cause.

On Friday, Georgia is going to set a closing date on the house. When I find out exactly what it is, I'll post it here.

Fundraiser Update

Grand total of the money we raised: $87,000.

People have also sent hundreds of pounds of clothes. SallyCat alone sent 350 pounds from a drive and party she conducted in San Francisco.

The shelter is also going to be receiving a flurry of small checks because a retiree in Florida who read the Rapid City Journal articles asked that everyone who attended his birthday party last week send checks to the shelter in lieu of presents for him. Awwww...

The official house fundraiser ends tomorrow. I will be putting up a new ChipIn with no goal amount for people who still want to donate.

Work left to be done

One snafu has come up. We were basing our estimate of the cost of a security system on the one the neighboring shelter has. Bad idea. For a system that has 24 hour monitoring, the estimated cost was $24,000. Yipes! And they will still need a fence as well.

This means that the security system and fence will eat up a lot of the money they had set aside for furniture and a washer and dryer. So, when I spoke with Georgia today, she gave me a new wish list.

I know most people have given all they can, but I also know from experience that other people will want to know how they can help some more. So this is for them (I don't want guilt trip everyone else, you all have been amazing). Some of these are replacements for items that didn't hold up too well either in the move or in storage.

So for anyone so inclined to buy what I will call housewarming gifts, here's what the shelter needs.

Wishlist
washer and dryer
8 bunk bed sets, and sheets to go on them
couch and chairs
television and stand
dining room set (the one they had collapsed in the move)
pillows
full and twin-size sheets
8 dressers (2 for each bedroom)
dishes and related kitchen supplies

Again,on behalf of the shelter staff, I want to extend my deepest gratitude for all your support, compassion, and kind words. Think about what you have all done to help hundreds of women and children on the Standing Rock Reservation. It's incredible. Pat yourselves on the back.

I also want to publicly thank Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-SD) for her support. She spoke out publicly in support of the shelter when there was opposition on the City Council, has visited it at least twice, and whenever anyone calls her office about it, her staff members are extremely helpful. This is exactly the kind of commitment we need from our representatives in Congress. Thank you!



One more thing: I've created a list at Target of things the shelter could use - if you want to get stuff directly. I have just guessed at/had fun with things like bedspread/comforter/sheet color, but the quantities are correct. Lots of kitchen things are on there too. I had a difficult time logging in to the first list, so I created a second one called "Housewarming gifts" or something like that. Just go to and look at the Wish Lists. Then search for Pretty Bird Woman House.

Why Isn't Anything Easy in Indian Country?

While we were running this fundraiser, the City Council of McLaughlin, which exists as a separate entity within the boundaries of the Standing Rock Reservation, passed an ordinance requiring that any nonprofit wishing to establish a boardinghouse or shelter in a residential area get the approval of the City Council first.

This means that even though Pretty Bird Woman House could have closed on the house on January 4th, they had to wait for a Council meeting on January 7th.

Everyone was certain that after hearing about the shelter, the City Council would just say "of course you can."

Not so.

Unfortunately, Georgia Little Shield, the shelter director, was attending a mandatory federal training associated with their new grant, so she was unable to go to the hearing. However, six representatives of PBWH and neighboring shelters did attend, including Jackie Brown Otter and a lawyer from the South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Someone from the Lutheran church, the owner of the house the shelter bid on, also attended in support of the shelter.

The new ordinance that is affecting the shelter was passed in response to complaints about the men residing in a homeless shelter in another neighborhood, since they were making nuisances of themselves. While I can't blame the residents for wanting drunken men off of their lawns, the measure does seem draconian in relation to the size of the problem it sought to address.

In general, reports from people who attended the meeting indicated that the ratio of support to opposition on the Council was about 60/40. Instead of voting on it that night, however, they decided to take the full 30 days allowed by the ordinance, and have another hearing.

The problem they are having, which has definite racial overtones, generally seems to stem from the fact that some of the members of the community could not conceptually distinguish between a homeless shelter, which houses men with emotional and drug problems, and a women's shelter, which houses women who are escaping abuse, and want nothing more than a safe place to stay and to be as unobtrusive as possible. This is quite the opposite of a homeless shelter.

One reason for hope for a positive resolution was that Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth publicly came out in favor of the shelter in a recent Rapid City Journal articleabout the shelter. By the way, that paper also carried a very nice article about the shelter and the netroots fundraising efforts, which you can see here.

The Congresswoman seems to have become a champion of this cause, and programs to assist domestic violence victims in Indian Country in general. Kudos and applause to her!

And, without trying to dictate to the city council, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., nonetheless has made it clear that her heart is with the shelter as it searches for a permanent home.

"I'm not going to get involved in that (council vote)," Herseth Sandlin said earlier this week. "But I do hope that our efforts in making greater resources available to those isolated reservations will be a factor in the decision making -- to know that a member of their congressional delegation is paying particular attention and wanting to be partners in their effort to have a safer community."
...
Herseth Sandlin visited the Pretty Bird Woman House twice last year and supported Congressional bills with additional financial resources for law-enforcement and domestic-violence programs on reservations.

But she went further. The article notes that after visiting the burned shelter back in October:

...Herseth Sandlin returned to McLaughlin with Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, as well as congressional staffers. They stopped by the shelter apartment, which had by then been abandoned, and met with federal and local law-enforcement officials, shelter representatives and Dumdei.

After the visit, Dicks inserted language into an omnibus appropriations bill expressing his concern that "methamphetamine use, violence against women and other serious crimes have reached epidemic levels in certain areas of Indian Country," and directing the Bureau of Indian Affairs to increase the level of law enforcement and criminal prosecution in such areas.

That doesn't provide more money specifically for Standing Rock but directs BIA to focus more resources on isolated areas where law officers are scarce. Herseth Sandlin said the October Congressional stop was part of the inspiration for adding that language into the spending bill. It also helped raise awareness in Congress about the issues of domestic violence and inadequate law enforcement on isolated reservations, she said.

"I think it has been very important to keep raising awareness about the epidemic of various crimes, especially domestic violence, and the inadequate staffing levels of BIA officers," she said.

Again, thank you Congresswoman Herseth-Sandlin!

Additionally, the Mayor, who is in somewhat of a bind here, was quoted in the same article:

Mayor Ron Dumdei said this week that he and council members appreciate the value of the shelter but also must consider the concerns of members of the community. Some citizens worry that the shelter could again be victimized by vandals and pose other potential threats to the community in its new location.

"I understand their need for a shelter, but I also have to be sensitive to the other community folks who have concerns about it," Dumdei said. "We'll do what we can to make things right."

He seems to have good intentions here, so that's another good sign.

Another issue that arose during the meeting was what seems to have been a misconception about the local police authority to arrest Indians. Because McLaughlin has a white police department operating inside an Indian reservation, according to one opponent of the shelter, the white police officers have no jurisdiction, so it wouldn't matter whether or not the shelter is close to a police station (was that a wtf moment for you? It was for me).

This is plainly not true. There are jurisdictional issues that make it difficult to hold people, but they can be arrested, as the Mayor's statement to the Rapid City Journal reflected:

Jurisdiction issues between the tribe, federal agencies and state and local law enforcement officers create problems as well, Dumdei said. Non-Native officers who apprehend tribal lawbreakers may only hold them until they can be picked up by the federal officers, Dumdei said.

The jurisdictional issues make it difficult for nontribal law enforcement to be effective, he said.

"It creates some problems here. But we're trying to work it out," Dumdei said. "What we want to do is provide a safe community. It's a complicated issue, but we're going to do the best with what we've got."

Unfortunately, though, the original argument was not quashed at the meeting. In any case, as Georgia told me by phone yesterday, there has not been one case in South Dakota of a batterer attacking a women's shelter. What happened to the shelter was vandalism, and we do not know the race of the vandals. The shelter needs to be in a safe area for the safety of the women inside it, just in case they are stalked, as well as to to deter vandals, but not because any batterers are likely to attack the shelter.

During the upcoming 30 days, the Council will hold another town meeting and give Georgia a chance to talk about the shelter. That will also give the women's shelter advocates in the area some time to educate the residents about exactly what a shelter is and does.

One thing IS certain. WE WILL HAVE A SAFE HAVEN FOR WOMEN ON THE STANDING ROCK RESERVATION, NO MATTER WHAT. Compassion WILL win.

Georgia also told me that one other thing they will immediately do is create a Plan B for purchase of a house. Since they could not close on a house on Jan.4th, as originally planned, they are now technically out of compliance with the grant that provides for operational expenses for the house. Thank God for the fundraiser. If they have to renovate some other house farther away from town, they will now be able to. Lets hope that doesn't happen.

Right now, we're not asking for letters to anyone in McLaughlin, except thank yous to Congressional Reps. Herseth and Dicks for their support. I think it is entirely possible that the members of the Council who oppose the shelter will come to their senses after they have been educated about what a women's shelter really is. This may just be another bureaucratic delay.

While I wait, what I am going to do is research the history behind these towns on Indian reservations in the Dakotas. Some of the social relationships that have been described to me since I have become involved with this project are so oddly 19th century that sometimes I have difficulty overcoming my disbelief at what I'm hearing. I need to educate myself on this.

And things are just as messed up at the federal level too, which reinforces these problems. Senator Dorgan has developed a concept paper with ideas for legislation to improve law enforcement in Indian Country. We really need to change federal laws that create conditions where people are treated differently by law enforcement just because of their race. You can read that paper here, and Senator Dorgan is requesting comments on it.

Well, there you have it. This situation still embodies what Native American women face when they try to make change in their community. I feel so great to be able to say that now they've got the netroots behind them.

The situation also raises another question, which was brought to my attention by a donor. If all nonprofits seeking to establish boarding houses or shelters in residential neighborhoods have to get permission, and if the Council denies permission to Pretty Bird Woman House, isn't that a de facto ban? If so, there may be federal Fair Housing Act implications to consider. Just sayin.....

We Lost A Friend Yesterday

Yesterday, January 4th, 2008, Major Andrew Olmsted was killed in Iraq. Here, at the Pretty Bird Woman House Blog we knew him as G'Kar, one of the wonderful bloggers who crossposted on our fundraiser. His post about us is here.

He wrote his own memorial and it is up on Obsidian Wings right here and is worth reading.

I did not know Major Olmsted; but I wish I had. He must have posted on Pretty Bird Woman House from Iraq. It takes a remarkably selfless person, to think of the needs of others while in such danger. His final post for the blog he did in the Rocky Mountain News further reveals his character.

Thank you, Major Olmsted, for your service and for taking the time to participate in this fundraiser. Your work is a part of something that will help women and families for decades to come. Blessings on your journey.

The Shelter and this fundraiser makes Rapid City Journal Front Page

On January 1st, the print edition of the Rapid City Journal carried the story of the shelter and our internet fundraiser on its front page. Way to go bloggers! The story is first about the shelter, and then goes into some detail about the success of the bloggers' efforts to get it a building.

You will note that a zoning issue has come up. Apparently, a homeless shelter was situated in a residential area of McLaughlin, and residents petitioned to have it shut down because the men were becoming a nuisance in the neighborhood. McLaughlin added a section to its zoning ordinance to prohibit charities from setting up shelters without prior approval.

However, since it wasn't aimed at a women's shelter, we're optimistic that they'll approve the shelter's petition. In any case, they're not going in there without some help from the South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence. I will update everyone after the Jan 7th hearing. In the meantime, lets all sit tight and see what happens because of the article below.

Standing Rock women's shelter has money, needs city support
By Kevin Woster, Journal staff Tuesday, January 01, 2008

MCLAUGHLIN - As she sorted donated clothing in the cramped, temporary office space of the Pretty Bird Woman House, Yvette Cameron explained the trauma that first brought her here.

"I was raped," the 31-year-old mother of four said softly, without looking up from a shirt she was folding. "The people here helped, a lot."

With so few words, Cameron said so much about the Pretty Bird Woman House domestic-violence shelter and education programs, its three-person staff and their value to the threatened and abused women and their children here on the Standing Rock Reservation. Cameron, now a volunteer at the shelter, said the staff supported and advised her during the court proceedings that eventually sent her rapist to prison.

The staff also helped her find a counselor, and assists her in other ways as she learns to live with her victimization and provide a home for her family, Cameron said.

"I still need medication, and a lot of counseling," she said.

Then the story goes into the background on the shelter, which has now been thoroughly documented here. Then it turns to the zoning issue....

Now center Director Georgia Little Shield has her eye on a new home
for the shelter, a vacant house about a block from city hall and the police station.

And Little Shield and the shelter have the money to buy the house, thanks to a two-month surge of donations through the Internet that has generated about $80,000.

"This would give us more room, in a safer environment, being only a block from the police department," Little Shield said. "There's really a great need for this."

One potential problem is a city county ordinance that requires review and approval before the shelter can be established in a residential area.

It's a new ordinance prompted by public concerns about problems with a homeless shelter in town that is unrelated to the Pretty Bird Woman House, city finance officer Della Hauck said.

"People signed a petition to bring it to the council, which added that to the zoning ordinance," Hauck said. "There were complaints at the other shelter about drinking and fighting."

The McLaughlin City Council is scheduled to consider the shelter's request during a meeting Jan. 7. Hauck said she couldn't speak for the council on that issue. Mayor Ron Dundei didn't return a Journal telephone call left at his home during the weekend.

After discussing how they're in free, but cold, offices now, it moves to the internet fundraiser:

The shelter's housing plight is the latest in a year of difficult times. It also is an example of the power of the Internet in raising awareness and money.

As the shelter program struggled last summer because of a lack of available federal grants, supporters from other states used the Internet to raise $27,000 and keep the shelter in operation. That gave Little Shield time to secure a three-year grant.

Elizabeth Campisi, a graduate anthropology student from Long Island, N.Y., got involved in those efforts through the Internet.

And when she found out from Little Shield in October that the shelter had lost its home, Campisi decided to try another Internet fund-raiser for a new home for the shelter.

She set up a web log, or blog, and began promoting the fund-drive for Pretty Bird Woman House on other blogs, particularly the popular Daily Kos. Daily Kos stories soon inspired other blogs to help, Campisi said by e-mail.

"Then the thing went viral," she said. "That means lots of bloggers picked up on the story."

Another blogger, Andy Ternay of Garland, Texas, wrote the first big-hit story on the Daily Kos blog about the plight of Pretty Bird Woman House fund-raising effort, and continued with updates.

Ternay said by e-mail that personal experience motivated him to join the campaign.

"I got involved because in the 1990's I worked for Women In Crisis, a domestic violence shelter in Colorado," Ternay said. "I got to see firsthand how much of a difference shelters make and that really motivated me."

His motivation was infectious. Dozens then hundreds of people chipped in. By Saturday, Campisi and Little Shield estimated that $80,000 had been raised.

That's enough to buy the house for about $50,000 and also purchase a security system, fence, other necessities and do some repairs in the house.

"This is one of those great stories about how a few people can have a big impact on the world," Campisi said. "It's really an amazing story."

But it isn't quite finished. Little Shield is hopeful but worried about the city council meeting on Jan. 7.

Although the Standing Rock Tribe has another building available that could work, it's several miles out in the country - a situation that provides both travel challenges in winter and potential safety problems.

"It's really important for us to be in town," Little Shield said. "I'm just a little bit worried. But I think when we get there and they see that our shelter won't have problems like the other one, I think they'll allow it."

Yvette Cameron hopes so, and expressed - again with few words - what so many feel. "That would be good," she said. "We need this place."

Reading Yvette Cameron's story made me SO glad that we ALL did this. The fundraiser in May helped keep the shelter open so they could help her, and they even went to court with her to face down the Mayor of a neighboring town, who said the rapist would be welcomed back as an upstanding citizen. When I heard that part of the story I thought, "what year is this? - how is it that in some parts of the country, Indian women still matter so little that their rapists aren't considered criminals?"

As far as I'm concerned, everyone who has read this story and donated is helping change both of those situations. We're helping the shelter staff assist victimized women, and by becoming aware of these types of problems, we're helping create an environment where people who victimize Indians can't keep getting away with it. In other words, we're helping bring this country fully into the 21st Century!

You can read the whole the story and leave a comment here