ACT in the Communities

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From the ACT program in Milwaukee, WI:

“Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” fundraising event for violence prevention programs in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

On the first Sunday in May this year, 614 men, women, and children participated in the second annual “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” fundraising event for interpersonal violence in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The walk raised $75,000 to subsidize programs in three agencies in the metropolitan Milwaukee area: Sojourner Truth House, The Task Force on Family Violence, and Jewish Family Services, the Milwaukee partner for the ACT program. This year’s walk was only one of 88 that will take place in the U.S. and Canada in 2008. Last year (2007), the inaugural year in the Milwaukee community, the three agencies raised over $60,000 to subsidize either direct service to victims of family violence or agency prevention efforts. A portion of this money is used to pay for staffing costs related to the ACT program, as well as to pay for completion vouchers, weekly expenses, and expansion of the program. Any leftover money is then spent on continued trainings at the American Psychological Association in Washington, DC.

Interested in finding a way to subsidize ACT programming locally, Hirsh Larkey, the ACT Community Coordinator in Milwaukee had been tracking walks that have occurred across the U.S. and Canada. In 2006, he suggested to a friend who was a board member of the St. Louis Justice Center that she bring the walk to St. Louis, while Hirsh brought it to Milwaukee the following year. Learning from sponsorships would be essential if the event was going to be a fundraiser. A working committee from all three agencies was formed and met monthly for a full year prior to the walk. Local media support for the walk has been growing since day one! Fundraising events such as this emphasize the different and creative ways ACT Coordinators can raise money and violence prevention awareness in their communities.

Frank Baird, LMFT is a marriage and family therapist who lives in Westlake Village, CA and is credited with creating the Walk a Mile concept. For more information, go to the Walk a Mile website: www.walkamileinhershoes.org.

For more information about the ACT program in Milwaukee, WI, contact Hirsh Larkey, PsyD at hlarkey@jfsmilw.org.

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