Laurie
MacDonald, CEO and president of Center for Victims, was named the Dignity &
Respect Champion of Greater Pittsburgh. She worked at Womansplace, a domestic
violence center, for 10 years before the organization merged with the Center
for Victims of Violence and Crime, this past July.
Nominated
for the award by coworker Nicolas J. Hartman, Laurie has spent more than a
decade working tirelessly toward the betterment of a diverse community.
"Through
Laurie's commitment to acknowledging the diversity of crime and victims of
crime, we now have an agency providing services in a comprehensive fashion
while appreciating and respecting the diversity of the victims it serves,"
Hartman wrote in his nomination letter. "Laurie also has a personal
approach to working with her employees, never shy to say hello and ask about
our well-being," Hartman wrote. "Laurie truly wants her staff to feel
appreciated and enjoy the work that we do."
Laurie
said the most rewarding aspect of her work is getting to know so many different
people. As a daughter of an Arab immigrant, she remembers her upbringing in
McKeesport (she grew up two blocks from where Womansplace was established) as
one marked by gender and racial discrimination.
"I
learned a lot about discrimination and prejudice," she said. "Female
suppression was huge. You were expected to graduate high school and become a
secretary."
That
atmosphere has changed, Laurie said, even if society still has a ways to go. As
she knows, people are still hurting one another.
During
the past 10 years, Laurie admits, she can't say she's seen even a modest
decrease in the number of women seeking shelter from violence. But she has
watched the population she's served-first through Womansplace and now through
the Center for Victims-become more diverse.
Abused
women aren't hiding in the shadows-at least not as often.
"Domestic
violence happens to everyone, but the way it's dealt with in the community is
different," Laurie said, adding that in some cultures, traditionally,
women are more reluctant to use community resources. "It's not as taboo to
seek help [now]."
Womansplace,
based in McKeesport, helped reach an underserved community that was less likely
to access resources based in the city, Laurie said. Center for Victims casts
the net wider, offering women and men in Allegheny County a 24-hour help line
for "victim advocacy, crisis intervention, counseling, and community
education programs to those impacted by all forms of violence and crime
including, but not limited to: adult and child sexual assault; physical
assault; child and elder abuse; homicide; robbery; and burglary,"
according to the group's website. "It's good for our clients,"
she said. "It's more of a one-stop shop."
Laurie's
optimism baffles some, she said. It's not that she doesn't see, first-hand, the
casualties of abuse-indications that the values of dignity and respect haven't
taken hold in all of us.
Friends
sometimes ask her how she can do the work she does without being depressed all
the time. Her response is simple.
"If you think
you're not making progress-- you are."
Do you know an individual who makes a positive impact and promotes an environment of inclusion? If so, nominate the
person in your life you feel has made a difference for the Dignity &
Respect Champion Award! This
prestigious award recognizes people who are engaged in their communities, live
by the principles of dignity and respect, and promote an environment of
inclusion.
