Hey everybody, I'm Matt Major from Clickstream
Studios. Welcome to Good News York. Today I am
joined by two incredible ladies that are going
to tell us about an organization that's been
a staple in the central New York community for
almost 50 years. I think we're approaching 49
plus. It's called Vera House, and I'd love to
just dive right in and let you go ahead and just
introduce yourself, and then we'll talk a little
bit about what Vera House is. Sure. I'm Tricia
Matthews. I'm the CEO of Vera House. I just celebrated
my three -year anniversary, so I'm happy and
fortunate to be leading this charge. That's great.
And I'm Rebecca Shiroff. I'm the Senior Director
of Strategic Partnerships and Intergovernmental
Affairs. It's quite the mouthful. There's a title
right there. It is. But I have been with Vera
House since August, actually. So I'm the new
kid in town, but one of the most fulfilling roles
I've ever had. to be honest, with these traits.
So as I mentioned, you've been around for a long
time, so there's lots of folks in the community
that are aware of you, but I think there's probably
a number of folks who are. So if you wouldn't
mind, either one of you jump right in and just
kind of tell us what your mission and what the
organization's all about. So we're an organization
that we care for survivors of domestic violence
and sexual assault. So first and foremost, we're
here for everybody to serve anybody in need,
even if they're not ready to flee. 315 -468 -3260
is our support line, 24 -7. We have two shelters.
We have a team of advocates. We have a prevention
education team. We have therapy. We have an accountability
program for people who have caused harm and who
come through the prison system to help them.
We have an abuse in later life. So elder abuse
is on the rise. So that's an area we want to
talk about growth. Who am I missing? Oh, our
same program. Sexual assault nurse exam. So anytime
someone has been sexually assaulted and they
end up in one of our emergency rooms, we have
a team of nurses and advocates that go out and
support that client. Oh, wow. Yeah. Wow. That's
an article. Yeah. Yeah. How many folks do you
have? with the four -year -old organization?
Roughly around 55. Well, currently we do have
some vacancies, so we're working to fill those.
But we have seen an uptick in people applying
to Vera House, so it's great. So I feel like
we can't hire everybody at one time. It would
put us under water. So we strategically kind
of work on what position we're going to fill
next. We have an incredible team. I'm going to
say that. Yeah, and it's very heavy work, what
they do. Very heavy. You know, so we really push
self -care a lot at Vera House. And, you know,
we do events for the staff that really focus
on self -care because it's heavy, what they do.
You know, the advocates are stories that you'll
never unhear and things you'll never unsee. So
we're always pushing self -care, you know, very
big on that. Unfortunately, our mission says
we're going to end it, but unfortunately, I don't
see that anytime on the horizon because when
you look at our statistics, which actually I
wanted to share some, that's with you as far
as, and I have to look on my phone here. But
in 2025 in review, we had, for example, over
200 survivors housed through our shelters. We
had over 255 patients met at the hospital by
sexual assault nurse examiners. We had over 4
,000 community members and students reached through
prevention education, which is huge because that's
where it starts before it begins. Over 5 ,600
crisis calls received by the advocacy team. That's
huge. And over 400 program completions for the
accountability programs, which as Tricia mentioned,
are for people who have caused harm. And sometimes
we'll get people say, well, how can you work
with... Well, let me explain this to you. If
you have one person who has abused someone, there's
been cases that we've had where it's one person
with four victims. You get to them after the
first one, that's three you're not gonna have.
So it is incredibly important because as Trisha
has said before, you can't arrest your way out
of domestic violence. You know, it's prevention
education, it's accountability, it's all of the
things in between. So it's a lot of work. It's
a lot of work. If you wouldn't mind, tell me
a little bit more about the prevention part.
What is that program like? What happens there?
Sure. So we have contracts with a lot of the
school districts in the school district, college
campuses. And so our team goes out and presents
on healthy relationships. explaining what sexual
assault and domestic violence actually is, right?
Some people don't even know. And expressing and
explaining that it's in everybody's backyard,
right? It's not over there in that other neighborhood.
It's in everyone's backyard. And the numbers
that Rebecca talks about, that's just the people
that came forth. The people that sit in it and
just don't know that there's a place to go, right?
Or that that's for somebody else. So we talk
all the time, 2026 Prevention Education Department,
we want to... really expand that and grow that.
We've been meeting with a lot of the politicians
to talk about getting really embedded in the
schools on a regular basis, not just when we
get invited, right? But it should be part of
educating these kids. Part of the curriculum.
Every week and a place for them to go if, you
know, so I think we get there and we can check
the box that we, you know, we taught the program,
but is, is it impacting them? And did a kid just
see domestic violence at home and then came to
school and then our educators are there and they
taught the class, but should we be in a resource
room where they have some place to go and talk
through that and what that looks like so that
we can educate them so that they don't become
the next abuser? That's where we got to move.
Breaking the cycle. And that's what we want to
talk about through 2026 because we're not doing
enough. We got to do more. I say it all the time,
but easier said than done, right? Got to find
the funding. Got to hire the right people. You
got to hire the right people so that they can
impact these young adults, young kids, so that
they know, listen, did anyone teach us what a
healthy relationship is? No. You go through the
life journey yourself. So I think those are some
of the changes that we could. you know, really
implement to turn the corner here so that we
can do more. And something also that we say is,
you know, it's not just women that are affected
by domestic violence. And you don't have to have
bruises to be a victim of domestic violence.
You know, we just partnered with Safe Space and
they're in a hold. they're going to hold their,
it's a women's empowerment group at Vera House.
They're going to be facilitating the group at
our location. So we partnered with them. And
that is a group for women who, you know, are,
they are in a domestic violence situation, but
they feel like, well, maybe I don't need Vera
House yet because I haven't been hit. We see
everyone. There's psychological abuse, emotional
abuse, financial exploitation, all of the above.
we help all of those people, but we are also
working with other organizations that do things
like that. And, you know, let's kind of work
together and let's bridge the gap. But, you know,
there are groups for men as well, because men
can be victims of, you know, maybe not physical,
but certainly emotional, verbal, financial abuse.
It happens. So it's... It's something that affects
everyone, every socioeconomic background, every
gender, everything. It affects everyone. It affects
everyone. So before I jump into a couple other
things, I guess on that note, if somebody needs
help, what's the best way for them to get it?
Just start with our support line, right? 24 -7.
They can come and be a part of one of these groups,
right? It doesn't mean that you're ready to leave,
but maybe you're gonna do some safety planning,
and maybe you're gonna just talk through what
it is. Because let's face it, life is hard on
a good day, right? Now take someone who, and
I'll make all this up. Let's say you don't even
have a credit card in your name, you don't have
a vehicle in your name, you don't have a home
in your name, and now I'm gonna leave it, and
now I'm bringing my two kids with me, and they
wanna go back. because it's my dad and it's my
dog and the fish and the guinea pig. And now
I'm off with mom in a strange place and we can't
even buy a cracker. So we talk a lot about, we
have to make it easier. We've got to put all
those support mechanisms in place that when some
poor soul gets the courage to go, we can make
their life easier and more comfortable and to
give them hope. because these are tough situations,
and it's a dark time for them. And we have to
be responsible for that. Well, it's incredible
that there even is such a resource. Sure. Can
you imagine if we weren't here? Right. Right.
You want to know what keeps me up at night? What
if we couldn't sustain it? And we can't do it
on grant funding alone, right? That funding is
all, that's a whole other topic for another day.
But we need, and for us to do more and hire more
staff, we have to find more money to do that.
And to think of all those numbers that Rebecca
just rattled off if your house wasn't here, where
would those people go? And we're competing for
funds that... you know, some of it's going downstate.
No, we got to keep that. We got to keep this
service here. It's vital. Yeah. Because I see
the look on these people's faces. I can't even
explain it to you. Yeah. Yeah. I can imagine.
Yeah. Now, I know you're based in Syracuse. Is
there a geographical area that you serve or?
We do that analysis in our database and there's
about roughly around 30 or 31 little separate
communities that we take care of. But I think
it's because those communities know we're here
and know to call us. We have had clients come
from other states because of, for safety reasons,
right? Again, the staff is incredible. To watch
them navigate a case, a situation, they come
together as a team, they divide and conquer.
No two cases are the same. No two days are the
same. but they know how to navigate the community
and the resources. We're very, very fortunate
in Onondaga County to have all of the wraparound
services that we have access to. And the team
knows how to navigate that. They do a great job.
That's great. Yeah. They do everything from,
you know, if somebody gets there, a lot of times
they may not have their license. They may not
have their, you know, because that - Sure. abusers
tend to take those things away because that's
another way of having control. So no license,
no debit card, no nothing. So the advocates help
them getting their license again, getting their
pass, you know, just selling their kids for school,
you know, all of these things that we don't even
think about. You don't think about it. Exactly,
you take it for granted. That's why I say, we
have people that come from every background because
you can have the great house, the cars, the trips,
everything, but if you don't even have a debit
card in your name, where are you going? You have
to go to your house because you can't even stay
at a hotel. We do a lot and it's from beginning
to end. Once they leave us, we also you know,
continue to help as much as we can, but, you
know, that's where the funding comes in. You
know, right now we're about 80 -20, you know,
grants to private. My dream and my role would
be to flip that, you know. It's a big dream,
but, you know, I love a challenge, so there's
that. But yeah, we just need all the support
that we can get because we can't go anywhere.
And we are the only certified rape crisis center
within how many miles? I don't even know. I think
it's Rochester. So we're needed here. And if
we have an increase in population in this area
in the next few years, guess what that means?
More people that are going to need Vera House
because the statistics are one in four women
are affected by this. So the more people you
get in here... The more people that are going
to need our service and more sleepless nights.
Correct. So let's, let's talk about some of those
ways that people can help. Um, on top of obviously
just donating directly, which is probably the
easiest and quickest and best thing for everybody
you do. Right. Um, but you also have all kinds
of different fundraisers, including. one that's
coming up pretty soon with some cool cars, right?
Yeah. So, February 11th at the On Center, it's
the Syracuse Auto Dealers Association Charity
Preview. And we were fortunate enough this year
to be selected as one of the benefiting charities.
other amazing charities as well that are benefiting
and, you know, a lot of which are, you know,
we'll work together and do whatever we can to
help each other. But yeah, Vera House is one
of them, which was such a wonderful surprise.
It's great. And on our website, www .verahouse
.org, if people go on there, right on our homepage,
they will see SATA. And if they want to purchase
tickets, they can do it through that. We also
have our gala that's in October. Should know
the final date today, as a matter of fact. We
have the White Ribbon Campaign Breakfast, which
is April 8th at the Downtown Marriott. What's
that one all about? That sounds interesting.
April is White Ribbon Campaign Awareness. It's
mostly a men -led movement. Wow. to end domestic
violence, to bring awareness to domestic violence.
And we kick it off, we kick off the month with
our breakfast, which is at the Downtown Marriott.
And we have speakers, we talk about what the
white ribbon campaign is, and we try and get
as many men involved in raising awareness and
talking about healthy masculinity and trying
to end this problem that we have. There's a lot
that goes on, but people can also volunteer.
We have people that do donations of care packages.
There's just so many ways, so many ways to help.
What, when you say care packages, what are the
types of things that are useful that would be
good for people to give you? Sure. So we're starting
a new initiative where we're going to have welcome
baskets for the people who come into our shelter.
you know, face masks and a journal. You know,
we could take comforters, towels, sheets, all
those things. But the thought is on your shit,
obviously. I'm constantly, constantly harping
that, you know, when someone has the courage
to go, and let's face it, if you're coming to
the shelter, you got no place else to go. When
you open that door, To me, it's got to feel like
there's hope. And so, especially when you've
taken the courage and now you're going to open
that bedroom door and you're going to stay in
a strange place, just a welcome basket to provide
a little comfort for them. You know what I mean?
I think it's a great idea. Yeah. And there's
several initiatives that we're going to be looking
at in the next year. We have annual corporate...
sponsorships. So there are partnerships that
companies can do with us where for a certain
amount, you know, there's obviously there's the
support itself, but there's also things, you
know, like tickets to our events and, you know,
social media, all of that thing. Community Bank
actually just stepped up big time. They have
come on board as our community room supporter,
our community room sponsor, and the community
room at our office. is the first room where somebody
who comes to your house will go. Sometimes it's
a mom with her kids. Sometimes it's just the
person themselves. But it's supposed to be the
first space that they walk into when they leave
that situation. And right now, it feels a little
clinical. We want it to feel like a home and
like a living room, somewhere where you can go
in there and just kind of take a deep breath
for the first time, probably in years, is you've
been living with this fear over your head for
so long. So yeah, Community Bank stepped up and
they are the sponsor of that room. So we're very
excited about that. And there's going to be other
opportunities like that for other areas as well,
and hopefully areas in the shelter as well. Wow.
That's awesome. Ladies, the work you do is just
truly incredible. And I'm really appreciating
you coming in and telling us about it and hopefully
us helping to spread the word. Sure. To people
that might need your services, but also people
that obviously want to support this incredible
mission that you have here. So this is great.
And just another plug for the most upcoming event.
I'm going to be the acronym wrong way. Zeta.
Yep, Zeta. Syracuse Auto Dealers Association.
Yeah. I've attended that event many times. And
let me tell you, as charity fundraisers go, it's
one of the most unique. It's a good time. You
get to see all the new model year cars from almost
all the dealers. And it's really fun to take
pictures of very expensive BMWs you're never
going to buy. The great selfies and a couple
of those. But everything, it's just a wonderful
event. Yeah, and they get a good turnout too.
I think it's like 800 people or to a thousand
people usually attend, if not more. It's a black
tie event, so that's always fun. Yeah. But great
food, you know, drinks. And it's just a good,
it's a really good time. And they split it between
the On Center and the War Memorial. So you get
to take a little golf cart to the tunnel to go
to the other side. You see the really, really
expensive, cool cars. Yep, so yeah, it's a great
time. Oh, right, I forgot about that. Yeah, it's
a good time. So we're going to be there and we're
going to have a table with information about
our services and what we do and people who will
be able to answer questions. And because, you
know, again, one in four. So the odds of somebody
being at the event that. And it takes a village,
right? We say it all the time. So thank you for
being a villager to help. push the message forward.
I don't think we could do these things enough,
actually. Yeah. Well, I was actually going to
ask you, what is kind of the most common way
that you use right now to get the message out
and spread? Do you do a lot of tabling at every
kind of event, things like that? So we're trying
to switch it up a little bit for 2026 and get
back to the grassroots, because I think that's
what Sister Mary Vera did, right? So I think
we're working on that. And it's one cup of coffee
at a time. We just started a coffee with Vera
House. to mirror the coffee with a cop. And we
had our first one yesterday at recess, coffee,
which was great and to see the people that came
out and just to have a conversation. So we'll
be doing those, watch for those on our social
media. We'll do that once a month. We're gonna
start doing maybe a happy hour once a month just
to bring people in, just to talk through it,
even just to get to know each other and have
a conversation and then to bring awareness. And
we're gonna get back into the churches again.
just having some people, I was out in Auburn
the other day picking up a donation. And when
I talked about Vera House, the woman said, what
is that? And I thought, oh my God, in Auburn,
people don't know what Vera House is. So we got
our work cut out for us to get out there and
educate people. Schools, faith -based organizations,
everywhere, anywhere that we can go. Things like
this, raise awareness. Yeah, and social media,
we're constantly pushing our social media, because
let's face it, people are like this all day.
Addicted to their phones. Exactly. But yeah,
and I just remind people, I live my life with
the mantra, pay it forward. And if you notice,
anytime I do anything on social media, my hashtag
always has hashtag pay it forward. And I just
want to remind everyone that if you are lucky
enough, to be in a situation where you're not
fearing for your life, where you're not fearing
for your kids' lives. Pay it forward. You know,
it's a blessing because people don't, people
never want to be or expect to be in that situation,
but somehow you find yourself in that situation.
So if you're lucky enough to not be in that,
think about the people who aren't and pay it
forward in some way. That's fair. I like that.
Mine's absolutely. Um, ladies, last thing I want
to ask you is, and cause you mentioned something,
um, sister, sister. Mary Vera. I'm assuming that's
where Vera house comes from. Just tell me that.
Sure. So she was a nun back in the day that,
um, you know, found women who are abused and
hid them, right. Gave them a place to go and
sleep. And, um, you know, I know that as we've
grown, I think about her all the time. We got
her. photograph and we just got her a new frame
and so you know we have to pay attention to like
what her drive and mission was from the very
beginning and it's a hefty one right because
we've talked about it it says we're going to
end it and so we got a lot of work to do so I
think better often to say I hope she's watching
out for us because we got a we got a big hill
to climb yeah yeah great what a great icon to
focus on. Sure, sure. And it's people like you
that help us climb that because I follow what
you do and you really do. You really do great
work and you bring a lot of awareness to a lot
of organizations in the area. We try to. We are
Good News York. Like I said, we stay away from
controversy and things like that. And sometimes
though, we get into things like this that aren't
necessarily the most. upbeat, but at the same
time, the idea that there is help for these things
is best known. And you have survivor stories,
which are amazing. I mean, our shelter director,
she was, she's a survivor of domestic violence
that was helped by Vera House. And now she runs
our shelter and helps these women navigate what,
you know, what she went through. Yeah, she's
engaged, happy, living her best life. And so,
you know, when you see those survivor stories,
you're like, This is why we do what we do. Yeah.
You know, that's great. And it's, again, pay
it forward. Right. Yeah. I love it. Uh, ladies,
we can talk about the endless, uh, list of programs
and, and how they work and everything. But I
think the best bet at this point is to let you
get back to it and tell folks to go to the website
and check out all of these things. Svirahouse
.org is the place to go for those things. check
them out and sign up. I'm telling you, this charity
preview car event is pretty awesome. It is. And
the way they support Vera House specifically
is buying the tickets through your site, right?
Correct. That's one unique thing about it is
that it does support so many different organizations,
but go ahead and grab some from Vera House and
come out, have some cars and a tasty dessert.
That's right. Have a good time. Ladies, any other
things we should add. And then I'm going to ask
you for your just your socials and stuff. But
anything else that we haven't really covered
this morning? No, just I think just the awareness.
And everybody knows somebody. So, you know, you
don't have to take it into your own hands. Hand
it off to the professionals that do this every
day. And we're here. We're here to serve everybody.
That's the thing, even if you don't. If you're
lucky enough to never need a service like this,
knowing that it exists so you can spread the
word is huge. That sounds absolutely great. So,
Lise, thank you again for joining us. Come back
any time, especially when we get closer to some
of your other events. We'll talk about them and
all the good things that you're doing. Thanks
for having us, really. Thank you. And follow
us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and everything
is Vera House, Inc. That car, that's our circle.
So stay up to date with everything through that.
Love it. And, and one more time, the hotline
number. 315 -468 -3260. All right. And that's
24 hour. Awesome. We'll have all that in the
descriptions and notes. Of course, if you're
watching this, just look below and all that information
will be there. You don't have to try to jot it
down as we say it, but check out Vera House and
follow along Good News York for all kinds of
more of these incredible interviews. We are very
close to our move to our new location. So these
are some of the final episodes in this studio.
Um, it's been fun, but I think the new spot is
going to be incredibly cool. So thank you to
everybody who's been watching and making that
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don't think he has some... Good for him. But
with that, peace out.