Two Local Shelter Advocates Nominated for National Award

Help End Abuse for Life (HEAL) is proud to announce two employees who were nominated for the national advocacy recognition, the Unsung Shero Award. A Shero is a woman who is an advocate for empowering other women, or supporting positive change for women, and who may have experienced or been a victim of domestic abuse. It is an annual campaign …

The Men of HEAL

The month of October is national Domestic Violence Awareness Month. As this important month comes to a close, Help End Abuse for Life (HEAL) would like to celebrate and honor the men in Lincoln County who are visionaries of a future free of violence and oppression. HEAL is the nonprofit organization that operates the Nest Domestic Violence Shelter in Ruidoso …

Prosecutor describes the challenges of domestic violence

Ruidoso News (NM) – Monday, September 26, 2011 Author/Byline: Dianne Stallings dstallings@ruidosonews.com Section: News A domestic violence survivor herself, 12th Judicial Assistant District Attorney Joanna Zimmerman doesn’t need to brush up on the psychological forces driving such incidents, she’s been there. Her job is to determine the proper charge in each case and to seek a conviction, if warranted. A …

Shelter founded on compassion from many

Ruidoso News (NM) – Monday, September 12, 2011 Author/Byline: Dianne Stallings dstallings@ruidosonews.com Section: News Debbie Haines-Nix never realized the malevolent ripple effect of domestic violence until she learned that 73 percent of young male offenders at the former Camp Sierra Blanca rehabilitation center near Fort Stanton were exposed to domestic violence in their pasts. “We had angry broken-hearted boys,” she …

Counselor: Road to recovery from domestic violence challenging

Ruidoso News (NM) – Saturday, September 17, 2011 Author/Byline: Dianne Stallings dstallings@ruidosonews.com Section: News Sometimes Nancy La Pointe may only have one shot at trying to inspire or motivate a woman who seeks refuge from domestic violence at The Nest. The victim may leave the next day, but as trauma recovery educator at the shelter in Ruidoso Downs, La Pointe …

The Kindness of Strangers

Friends of Help End Abuse for Life (HEAL) in Longview Washington are launching a fund raising effort in support of the Nest’s Children Art Therapy Program. Georgia Guse’ and her kids, Samantha and Adam Thompson, are organizing a social networking event committed to raising art supplies for the children of the Nest, a Domestic Violence Shelter in Ruidoso Downs, NM. …

A Story about Sauce & Charity

In the fall of 2009, Help End Abuse for Life (HEAL) launched the release of the HEAL a la Heart signature pasta sauce and cookbook. The sale of the sauce and the cookbook went to support the Nest Domestic Violence shelter in Ruidoso Downs. Two years later, many cases of the sauce remain but with a rapidly approaching expiration date. …

Shelter Residents Can Call on Neighbors for Help

Craig Plumbing and Air in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., donated 17 new Nextel phones to Help End Abuse for Life (HEAL). Heal will give the phones, on an as-needed-basis, to residents of the Nest, a domestic violence shelter. More than 90 percent of Americans use cell phones as a primary means of communication and rely on their phones to keep …