Staff changes should strengthen Abigail's Arms outreach programs

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Kelly Fiore-Watson (left) recently joined Abigail’s Arms women’s crisis center as a volunteer coordinator, and staff member Maria Vega will be reducing her hours with the crisis agency and working with Gainesville ISD as a community liaison. Both changes, agency administrators said Monday, will further the Abigail’s Arms cause of providing outreach and assistance to victims of domestic and sexual abuse in Cooke County. Staff photo by Greg Russell

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August 21, 2012

Staff changes should strengthen Abigail's Arms outreach programs

By GREG RUSSELL, Register Staff Writer Gainesville Daily Register The Daily Register Tue Aug 21, 2012, 08:33 AM CDT

Gainesville — The Abigail’s Arms women’s crisis center has recently undergone two staff transitions, both for the agency’s greater good.

Outreach Prevention Specialist Maria Vega will reduce her hours with the agency and join Gainesville High School as a community liaison during the 2012-13 year, and Kelly Fiore-Watson, former Cooke County United Way employee, has joined Abigail’s Arms as a volunteer coordinator.

Both shifts, said Abigail’s Arms Executive Director Kim Cook, will reinforce the agency’s local outreach.

“We want the community to know that there are some good changes going on,” she said Monday.

Vega said the new liaison title will enlist her to work with Gainesville ISD students, parents and school counselors, performing anti-abuse outreach and presenting youth awareness programs that will ideally keep this younger audience from becoming crisis center clients in the future.

“It’s not any different than what I’m doing now,” she said Monday. “The only difference is that I’ll be focusing on GISD and won’t be working with the county.”

Vega added that she may still work for Abigail’s Arms during some weekends, and that whoever replaces her within the agency will have access to local schools because of her new job.

She cited Gainesville ISD Superintendent Jeff Brasher’s efforts to implement an anti-bullying program during the coming year — a realm of education that mirrors the county crisis center’s specialty.

“I see the school going in a very good direction as far as teachers becoming more involved with the students, and with having more engagement, and with the kids being able to verbalized when bullying happens,” Vega said. “I think that’s a good thing, and that’s where Abigail’s Arms would come in.”

Cook explained Monday that Watson’s new career with Abigail’s Arms resulted from combining two part-time positions of volunteer coordinator and college liaison. The latter position specialized in outreach among college-age students, providing assistance for victims of sexual or physical assault.

And Watson, who formerly helped organize Cooke County United Way’s fundraising campaign, said the new position is more attuned to her aims.

“I’m elated,” she said Monday. “I’d been in school for some time now, leaning toward some kind of community advocacy or social work, and, of course, I’m getting my certification in licensed chemical dependency (counseling). My ultimate goal was to eventually work here; I just figured the shelter would have to be built in order for them to add people on.”

As reported during the past months, Abigail’s Arms agency representatives are still developing a full-sized women’s residency shelter near East Highway 82. As the fundraising for the building continues, Cook said, Watson’s versatile training will serve the agency in multiple capacities.