Dear friends:

On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Advisory Council, I am pleased to invite you to become a 2004 Member of the Rockland Family Shelter.

When the Rockland Family Shelter (RFS) asked me to chair the Membership Drive for their 25th Anniversary year, I recalled with fondness Steven Sondheim�s poignant lyrics to Leonard Bernstein�s beautiful song, Somewhere, in West Side Story:

"There�s a place for us, somewhere a place for us."

If you were a battered woman or a victim of sexual abuse when I portrayed Anita in the original Broadway production of this classic musical in 1957, there was no place for you in Rockland County. In fact, there was no such place until 20 years later, when the Rockland Family Shelter began its fight against domestic violence in our community. In the ensuing quarter century, RFS has provided crucial services to abused women and their families through programs like the RFS Emergency Residential Shelter and the RFS Crisis Hotline while consistently growing and evolving in their mission: to help create a world free of violence where all individuals are empowered to live with dignity and without fear.

The Rockland Family Shelter is also a place for the children of battered women, and both our residential and non-residential programs pay particular attention to helping them cope with the abuseP that has so disrupted their young lives. Proceeds from this year�s Membership Drive will help support RFS Children�s Services, the innovative program that helps children understand that the violence is not their fault and that strengthens the bonds between mothers and their children as part of the healing process. RFS Children�s Services is committed to teaching both mothers and children that violence is not acceptable, and to helping them lead safer and healthier lives together.

The Rockland Family Shelter is indeed a "place for us" � a place for all of us. Beyond the survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence served by our programs, RFS is an essential community resource that reaches out to and involves the entire community. And the success of RFS over the past 25 years has been due in no small part to individuals like you � friends and supporters who consistently contribute their time, talents, and money to help keep our doors open and our programs running.

May we count on your help again this year? Please choose a level of giving that is meaningful for you. Your 2004 Membership will help insure that the beacon that is Rockland Family Shelter will continue to shine brightly for woman and children in need of services, and that the RFS struggle to end domestic violence and sexual trauma in our community will remain strong, vital, and growing.

"There�s a place for us, somewhere a place for us."

And thanks to you, that place is the Rockland Family Shelter! On behalf of our Board of Directors, our Advisory Council, and the thousands who have benefited from RFS services, I thank you most sincerely for your support of this marvelous organization. Please know that your generosity does make a meaningful difference in the lives of hundreds of women and children and helps make our community a safer place for all of us.

With warmest regards,

Chita Rivera, Chair
25th Anniversary Membership Committee
The Rockland Family Shelter