Jessica Pirro Associate Director, Crisis Services Laura Grube Coordinator of Counseling and Advocacy of Haven House

It Happened To Alexa Foundation cordially invites you to attend its Sixth Annual Fundraising Dinner Friday, June 20, 2008 6 PM Cocktails, 7 PM Dinner At the Niagara Falls Country Club 505 Mountainview Drive, Lewiston, New York We will be honoring Jessica Pirro Associate Director, Crisis Services, and Laura Grube Coordinator of Counseling and Advocacy of Haven House Both will be presented with the "2008 Advocate for Change Award" For outstanding service and support to sexual assault victims in Western New York Wendy Murphy Nationally known news commentator and author, will give a brief synopsis of her book “And Justice For Some” For sponsorship or ticket information, please contact Ellen Augello, Executive Director IHTAF 754-9105 or email Augellos@verizon.net Jessica C. Pirro, LMSW Jessica C. Pirro received her undergraduate degree in Child and Family Studies and her Masters of Social Work from Syracuse University. She is a New York State Licensed Master Social Worker. Ms. Pirro began her career as a counselor at Vera House, the battered women shelter in Syracuse, New York providing support and assistance to women seeking shelter and safety from their abusive partners. Her other experiences include working with pregnant and parenting teens who attended school at one of the four city high schools in the Syracuse area. Ms. Pirro moved to Buffalo in 1997 and worked for Erie County to set up the Domestic Violence Unit, under the direction of the Wellstone/Murray Amendment Family Violence Option, to help address the safety and economic barriers faced by victims of domestic violence who access public assistance support. She began her work at Crisis Services in 1999 as the Supervising Counselor of the Advocate Program, the New York State Department of Health Rape Crisis Center, and a New York State licensed non-residential domestic violence provider, as well as a family violence and elder abuse service provider. She was promoted to Advocate Program Coordinator in 2001. Under her leadership, she began the Rape Crisis Advisory Committee in 2002 which identified the serious need to establish Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Programs in Erie County Hospitals. In 2003, Crisis Services was awarded funding through the Division of Criminal Justice Services to hire a SANE Coordinator to set up these programs. As a result we now have SANE nurses at ECMC and Crisis Services oversees the on call SANE response for the 4 adult Kaleida Facilities. Another effort also established by Ms. Pirro’s leadership was the protocol for Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault Testing. This effort began in 2004 and is made possible by Erie County’s Medical Examiners Office who agreed to conduct the testing of the DFSA kits locally which benefits investigation and prosecution of these cases. In 2006, Ms. Pirro was promoted to Associate Director and now oversees all clinical operations of the agency’s 5 programs that provide numerous services to those in crisis 24 hours a day. Ms. Pirro has been involved in various community coalitions to address the response to family violence and sexual assault. She served as the secretary from 1999-2000 and Chair from 2000-2002 of the Erie County Coalition Against Family Violence. She was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Erie County Coordinated Community Response to Family Violence 2005 and served on the advisory committee that developed Erie County’s Family Justice Center, 1 of 15 sites funded the President’s Family Justice Center Initiative. She was honored in 2007 with the Buffalo News Founders Award as part of the team that help open the Family Justice Center for Buffalo and Erie County. She has been a member of the Board of Directors for the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault for the past 5 years. She currently serves as Board President and has served in this role for the past 3 years. Ms. Pirro was the recipient of the 2002 Erie County Commission on the Status of Women Organizational Partner of the Year Award and was awarded the Justice, Freedom and Courage Award to End Domestic Violence in October 2003 by New York State Governor George Pataki. In 2007, she was a nominee for the YWCA Leader Luncheon Award. Laura Grube – Brief bio Laura Grube, LCSW-R, has been the Coordinator of the Counseling and Advocacy Program at Child & Family Services Haven House since 1997. In addition to coordinating the domestic violence supportive counseling services and eight support groups for women and children, she supervises several collaborative efforts with other service systems in the community, including Integrated Domestic Violence Court, Family Justice Center of Erie County, Erie County Family Court, Erie County Felony D V Court and Expedited Matrimonial Part, Erie County District Attorneys Office, the Village of Kenmore Court and Police Dept., the Town of Cheektowaga Court and Police Dept. and a new initiative to address the unique problems faced by survivors of same-sex domestic violence. In her current position she provides counseling and advocacy to victims of domestic violence, as well as support and supervision to her phenomenal team of counselors, advocates and social work students, overseeing 1800 cases each year. Ms. Grube is a graduate of the SUNY at Buffalo School of Social Work.