Women Helping Women Honors Four for Outstanding Efforts

Cincinnati – Three individuals and one organization were honored for their contributions during the 2011 Women Helping Women annual meeting held last night at the Cincinnati Club.  Each year, Women Helping Women selects those who have made significant contributions to the agency’s mission and recognizes each of them at this yearly event attended by Women Helping Women staff, board members, volunteers, and community supporters.

Honored for their efforts include:

Amanda Holmes – recipient of the Direct Service voluteer Award, which recognizes a volunteer who exemplifies dedication to Women Helping Women and the survivors it serves.  Holmes, of Hyde Park, has been a Women Helping Women volunteer since March 2010.  During that time she has dedicated an average of 60 on-call hours each month assisting survivors at the hospital and in court.  Holmes has a degree in Criminal Justice and is planning to attend law school.  In addition to volunteering for Women Helping Women, she also volunteers in the radio reading services department at Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Officer Dana Jones – recipient of the Thomas R. Oberschmidt Award, named for Cincinnati Police Department Lt. Oberschmidt and which recognizes individual police officers for their sensitivity to survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and excellence in investigating these crimes.  Officer Jones has served with the Cincinnati Police Department since 1996.  She joined the Personal Crimes Unit in 2006 where she investigates sexual assault cases involving both child and adult victims.  Officer Jones has received numerous commendations from prosecutors, social workers, health professionals, survivors and their families.  She works diligently to ensure that the survivor’s voice is being heard.

Doris Holzheimer – recipient of the Maria C. Blake Community Service Award, named in honor of Clinical Psychologist Maria Blake, Ph.D. and which recognizes an individual from the Greater Cincinnati community who has consistently and compassionately promoted the mission of Women Helping Women.  Holzheimer, of Covington, served as a board member with Women Helping Women for more than 17 years.  For more than 20 years she worked for Procter & Gamble, primarily in organizational effectiveness and used these skills to help guide the agency through a number of significant transitions.

The Robert D. Stern Fund – recipient of the Janet S. Klaine Philanthropy Award, named in memory of Janet S. Klaine who supported the agency and its mission for more than 20 years to serve its clients.  The Robert D. Stern Fund, managed by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, has generously supported the agency since 2004.

“Our volunteers and supporters are truly the heart and soul of Women Helping Women,” said Kendall Fisher, Women Helping Women’s Executive Director.  “We are grateful for their service and are glad that we can provide them with the recognition they deserve.”

Women Helping Women is a 501(c)3 organization founded in 1973 to serve women and men who are survivors of domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking in Southwestern Ohio.  The agency provides crisis intervention services including hotline, hospital accompaniment, court advocacy, support groups and face – to – face advocacy for abuse survivors and also conducts training and education in the community to increase awareness of these crimes and aid in their prevention.