Thank you, friends, for watching and working for North Dakota Today. It was a beautifully sunny day to talk about Kyle Jarvis, my Nice Person of the Week, as well as a team of Fargo students who took their love of science all the way to nationals.

To learn more about CVIC, click here. Two more things: I forgot to mention on the show that Kyle’s tattoo is of the word “HOPE.” It stands for “Hold on, pain ends.” In Kyle’s words, “When people ask why I got a dove tattoo, I get to spread awareness about CVIC and how they helped me become the person I am today.”

Also, I noted that CVIC employee Lindy sent me some information on an example story through their program. Here you go:

“I’ll paint a picture for you: If, for example, a young mother called our 24/7 crisis line in the middle of the night after being sexually assaulted by her partner, we would have someone who could meet her at the hospital, in the special exam room provided thanks to our partnership with Altru. Police, who have trained with CVIC, would follow the Sexual Assault Response Team protocols, reducing the number of times the client would need to share their experience. Our advocate would transfer the client and her children to our confidential shelter where our team would help her safety plan and replace the vital legal documents she had to leave behind when she fled, and her spouse won’t give her access to. They would connect her to our legal team who would help her with applying for an order of protection to keep her and her children safe. When she was ready, our Transitional Housing team could help her find a safe place to live and pay application fees and rent for up to two years while she gets her feet under her and figures out her next steps. It might even be in the furnished apartment donated by Pure North for use by CVIC’s Transitional Housing Program. Our therapy team would help provide individual and family therapy for her and her children, helping them on their path to healing. Our Supervised Visitation and Exchanges team, Kids First, would help provide services so when the court orders visitation between the children and their father, there doesn’t need to be any contact between the client and her ex-husband, and the sessions are recorded and monitored, ensuring the children’s safety. The client’s spouse could be referred by the court to attend our New Choices program, where he would learn more about the motivations behind his actions, and how he can make safer and healthier choices moving forward during the 27-week group program, hopefully helping to keep his future partners safe. As the children grow, they will receive presentations from our Prevention & Education team to learn more at every grade level about healthy friendships, relationships, conflict resolution, and bullying prevention. This client might be a candidate to receive a donated vehicle through Rydell’s Angels on Wheels program, helping remove a transportation barrier, and allowing the client to make it back and forth to their new job.”

I hope you enjoy this week’s North Dakota Today segment, which you can watch by clicking below. Have a great week!