Our 2015 Toy Drive concluded December 11th. On behalf of our clients and their children, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND GENEROSITY!! We received an amazing 250 toys and 86 gift cards donated through our wish list on Amazon.
Life Span Call to Action on the Illinois State Budget Impasse
Life Span Symposium for Practitioners: Custody Evaluation and DV
Life Span’s groundbreaking “Custody Evaluation and Domestic Violence: Toward Best Practices Symposium” on March 12, 2015 was a success! Our Executive Director, Denice Wolf Markham and Domestic Relations Presiding Judge, Grace Dickler, lead the list of the Chicago-area’s most knowledgeable and experienced judges, family law attorneys, forensics psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers who were in attendance and delivered presentations.
Life Span Executive Director, Denice Wolf Markham, JD
Denice Wolf Markham, Executive Director of Life Span, delivers Symposium Welcome Address.
Domestic Relations Presiding Judge Grace Dickler
Judge Dickler discusses Custody Evaluation in the Domestic Relations Division.
Beth Wilner, Phd., licensed clinical psychologist, mediator, and founder of Families In Transition, Inc.
Dr. Beth Wilner’s plenary address, Domestic Violence in the Context of the Custody Evaluation.
Margaret Luft, MSW LCSW, ICDVP, Life Span Director of Counseling.
Margaret Luft, presents The Traumatic Effects of Domestic Violence. This session identifies the effects of long term trauma, and outlook for the parent victim and child witnesses of abuse.
Panelists: Lanetta Haynes Turner JD, Michelle Valiukenas Bikulcs MA, JD, Itedal Shalabi and Hajira Mahdi.
The Immigrant Family: The Role of Culture and Language. Panelists from Arab American Family Services, Apna Ghar, Life Span, and Lanetta Haynes Turner, ED of the Cook County Justice Advisory Council examine the cultural norms and language that may affect the immigrant family’s custody evaluation and share insights on how the evaluator can address these issues.
Amy Fox, JD – Life Span Deputy Executive Director with Lanetta Haynes Turner, JD., Executive Director of the Cook County Justice Advisory Council.
A resounding THANK YOU to Amy Fox, Deputy Executive Director of Life Span and Symposium coordinator for her help in making this a successful event!
Barbara Palmer, MSW and Kathryn Socha, JD
Forensic Evaluator Barbara Palmer, and Legal Assistance Foundation attorney Kathryn Socha led a presentation on Domestic Violence Advocacy with Custody Evaluators.
Stacey Platt, JD – Associate Director of the ChildLaw Clinic at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, with Denice Wolf Markham.
Stacey Platt, panelist on The Interface Between Evaluators and Child’s Reps.
Group picture with Denice Wolf Markham, Executive Director of Life Span.
The Honorable David Haracz (left) participated as panelist for breakout session: The Use of Evaluations in Custody Determinations: What do Judges Want to Know From Evaluators? Judge Haracz is Associate Judge in the Domestic Relations Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Life Span Director of Legal Services Djuana O’Connor Oshin, JD (rear/right) moderated a panel discussion examining The Interface between Evaluators and Child’s Reps.
Life Span Attorney a Loyola #SSW1in100
Life Span Attorney and Loyola University Chicago: School Of Social Work Alum Virginia Torres, was nominated by the Loyola School of Social Work as one of the 1 in 100 graduates commemorating Loyola’s School of Social Work centennial year. Congratulations Virginia!
Life Span Holiday Toy Drive
Victims of domestic violence don’t often have the luxury of getting for their children “what the other kids” have. Our clients are mainly low income, working poor women and their children who have no access to household funds. Often times this money is in full possession of the abuser or is insufficient to buy anything but essentials.
Life Span’s Wish List
Every year Life Span partners with other agencies to obtain toys for our clients’ children so that each child may have at least one, but many times we fall short of even that goal. Last year, as a result of Life Span’s efforts and the public’s generosity, 746 children and teens received toys and small electronics. Our goal is just as ambitious this year.
This Holiday season we are relying on community support from people like you to help us ensure that every client’s child receives a toy. We are hosting an online toy drive through Amazon. The way it goes is that: you select and purchase a toy between October 16th and December 8th from our wish list, and the toy is mailed directly to our office. Life Span distributes the toy to a child. It’s that simple.
Pair Up With Life Span Wine Tasting Event #PairUpWithLifeSpan
Life Span’s 2nd Annual Pair Up With Life Span wine tasting event and fundraiser was held at Paired Wine Co. on September 8th, 2014. Hosted by the Associate Board of Directors of Life Span, this was an event enjoyed by all and a fabulous success again this year. With over 80 guests in attendance, it was an evening of mingling, wine tastings, hors d’oeuvre and learning about Life Span.
Life Span’s 2nd Annual Wine Tasting Fundraising Event at Paired Wine Co., Held September 8th, 2014
Executive Director Denice Wolf Markham, Recipient of the 2014 Thomas H. Morsch Public Service Award
Life Span’s Executive Director, Denice Wolf Markham was awarded the Chicago Bar Foundation 2014 Thomas H. Morsch Public Service Award for Public Service.
The Chicago Bar Foundation, Thomas H. Morsch award honors an attorney who, in choosing to devote him or herself to a career of public service, has demonstrated lifelong excellence in the quality of their work, leadership within their agencies and significant leadership and service on behalf of the poor and disenfranchised. The award includes a $10,000 gift provided by the family of Thomas H. Morsch, a former partner at Sidley & Austin and currently the Director of the Small Business Opportunity Center at the Northwestern University School of Law, and an advocate of public interest law for over 40 years.
Congratulations Denice!
Life Span on Chicago Access Network Television
Life Span appeared on Perspectivas Latinas, the community forum of CAN TV, to talk about the services we offer. Chicago artist Pinqy Ring joined Life Span to share her story of trauma and healing and performed her newest song “Little Hearts”.
Celebrate 35 Years With Life Span
Life Span is celebrating 35 years of service to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Life Span has helped over 130,000 survivors since 1978. Join us at Revel Downtown on May 8th, 2014 as we celebrate this occasion and honor our supporters. Tickets can be purchased online via Eventbrite.
Life Span held an Awards Luncheon on October 11, 2012, at Fulton’s on the River – By Sandra Blake
Anita Alvarez accepting award.
Life Span presented its first Safety and Accountability Award to Anita Alvarez. Anita Alvarez is the first Latina woman to become Cook County State’s Attorney. She is the first career prosecutor to hold this office, having spent her entire legal career serving victims of violent crime. Ms. Alvarez leads the second largest prosecutor’s office in the nation, supervising more than 1,600 employees whose primary responsibility is to seek justice on behalf of crime victims and their families. Ms. Alvarez has made positive changes in the way her office handles crimes against women. Her tenure has been characterized by openness and inclusion of the advocacy community. Whenever possible, Ms. Alvarez seeks input of the advocacy community to improve her office’s response to domestic violence and sexual assault crimes.
Ms. Alvarez’s efforts to improve prosecutors’ response to crimes against women include:
- Mandating extensive training in domestic violence and sexual assault for prosecutors assigned to these cases. Chicago-based advocates were included in planning and delivering these trainings;
- Attending to the safety of specialized populations, including the streamlining of procedures for undocumented victims to obtain U visas;
- Using a national forum, and enlisting the help of U.S. Senator Durbin, to urge Congress to pass the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA);
- Employing innovative prosecutorial strategies to obtain the full legal protection for victims;
- Successfully arguing her first U.S. Supreme Court case involving evidence used in a sexual assault case.
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, Life Span Executive Director Denice Wolf Markham and Advocacy Liaison Jennifer Greene of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Life Span is an organization committed to the cessation of domestic violence and to the immediate relief of those who suffer from its consequences. Life Span provides comprehensive services to victims and their children, helping victims to eliminate abuse from their lives, build upon their strengths and become self-sufficient.
By Sandra Blake
from The Catalyst: The newsletter of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Women and the Law