97-year-old Freeport resident donates $100,000 to domestic violence shelter

The VOICES of Stephenson County domestic violence shelter recently received one of its largest individual donations in its 40-year-history.

The organization said a 97-year-old Freeport resident recently donated $100,000 to the shelter.

“I am just doing what I think is right. This programming has the potential to impact many lives for the better, and those lives are worth it. I think my late husband would be proud of this cause, too,” the donor said.

VOICES said it will use the gift to create a domestic violence prevention program aimed at youth to help impact generational change.

Beth Maskell, VOICES executive director, said this gift opens new doors for VOICES.

“At VOICES, we have dreamed of establishing a domestic violence prevention program for our schools to counteract the rising cases of domestic violence that we are experiencing in Stephenson County,” Maskell said in a news release. “The gift turns this dream into reality and will be an integral part of lowering domestic violence rates in our area.”

Starting in fall 2023, VOICES will use the gift over a 10-year period to implement and teach the domestic violence prevention curriculum in Stephenson County schools to a broad range of ages.

Currently, VOICES prevention education staff teach an age-appropriate sexual assault prevention education curriculum in grades kindergarten through 12. VOICES staff believe the two curricula will complement each other but likely will be taught separately.

The benefactor selected VOICES for this major gift after donating to other organizations in the community.

“My next thought was, ‘Where would I make an impact and really change some lives for the better?’ That’s when I thought of VOICES,” the donor said. “I heard about a woman who had to flee in the middle of the night with her children to escape a scary and dangerous situation. I have been blessed in my life and have never faced such a scenario but couldn’t help but think how hard that would be. How much courage and strength it takes. One of my granddaughters has volunteered with an organization in Wisconsin that is similar to VOICES, so I thought I would look into what was here in my community.”

The donor also said she thought getting resources for children in school was important.

“I felt it would be a good idea to get domestic violence prevention in the schools,” the donor said. “To teach young people what is right in a relationship and what should raise red flags, or what an unhealthy or dangerous relationship looks like. We need professionals to teach and be a resource for young people, so they know what to do and never feel alone. I hope to have a small role in helping this community by trying to prevent the domestic violence problem. That’s all I want to do – try to help.”

VOICES of Stephenson County offers individuals and families victim-centered services and support such as counseling, advocacy and education to treat and prevent domestic violence and sexual assault and abuse.

This article originally appeared on Journal Standard: VOICES in Stephenson County receives $100,000 donation from donor