Interview Date: May, 2008
Nancy: Tell us a little about your passion for the work.
Stacey: I believe that this ministry started from the heart of God. He picked the ministry for me. I stepped through the door not knowing a whole lot about it. But God has a heart for this.
Nancy: Please describe a little about the work that you do.
Stacey: We provide a DV abuse recovery program for women, intervention programs for men and women, and provide DV awareness program for youth.
Nancy: What is most challenging in your work?
Stacey: Change is slow and that can be discouraging. If they look like they are doing well and then we hear from their wife or girlfriend that this is not the way that it is.
Nancy: In a typical week, how many men and/or women would come through your agency?
Stacey: [She reaches for her calculator] Probably about 300 weekly.
Nancy: How long have you been doing this work?
Stacey: We recently celebrated our ten year anniversary. We started in my home and moved to public offices 4 and a half years ago. Just last year, we doubled our space. We have three full-time employees and 7 part-time.
Nancy: How many clients when you first started?
Stacey: The first year it was myself and a couple of women a month, and then after that I started groups monthly with 3-7 per group. Now, we have 46 victim recovery groups in 5 states and just added more.
Nancy: If someone on our website wanted more information about your agency, would they go to your website?
Stacey: Probably, and then I am willing to talk to anybody.
www.armsonline.org
Nancy: If you had to dream big for the next five years, what would those dreams be?
Stacey: We have two offices now, here and Spokane, and I would like to see us have some other offices and be able to expand all of our services to all offices. We are trying to meet State Requirements and networking with other DV agencies has been a big plus for us in this area. In the next ten years, it would be great to have 5 offices and to have a real good system to be able to take our programs [elsewhere] and maintain excellence.
Nancy: If I am a woman who comes on your website, what would you tell me?
Stacey: I do not believe God would sacrifice a person for the sake of a relationship. We walk alongside them when they are thinking about what to do. We are going to support them no matter what.
Nancy: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us.
