By Dale M. King
BOCA RATON – AVDA (Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse) got a tip-of-the-hat and a financial boost from the Boca Raton Womans Club which held a benefit luncheon Oct. 131 at the Via Mizner Golf and Country Club.
Those in attendance also heard from a former Miami-Dade prosecutor turned mystery novelist who dealt with domestic abuse in the field.
During the event, the Womans Club noted that October is National Domestic Abuse Awareness Month.
AVDA offers shelter to abuses women and children and also provides transitional housing, said Pam O’Brien, the agency’s executive director.
She said the organization could house only 12 people when it first began more than a quarter-century ago, but can now accommodate 72, and more at other locations, if necessary.
Also, said O’Brien, “We make sure that when they leave, they have more money than when they came in.”
She noted that the Centers for Disease Control are now listing domestic abuse “as a health issue.” O’Brien also said as many as one in four women is affected by domestic violence.
The problem is particularly prevalent right here in Palm Beach County which ranks third highest among all 67 Florida counties for fatalities caused by domestic violence incidents that result in arrests.
Noting that AVDA has an annual budget of $2 million, and has a staff of 26, O’Brien thanked the city of Boca Raton and others who have “helped us keep our funding.”
Rosemary Krieger, who, with husband Ben, has long supported AVDA, made a special presentation to O’Brien and to the speaker, Jilliane Hoffman. She also made an on-the-spot donation of $1,000 to the group.
The Kriegers have donated two rooms to the AVDA shelter, one in their name, the other in the name of their parents.
Hoffman, a former assistant state attorney and prosecutor in the State Domestic Abuse Division, offered a speech about her career as an attorney and author. She said she could not have written her novels without the experiences she had in the courtroom.
She has written several legal thrillers, one of which, “Retribution,” has been purchased by Warner Brothers for development into a movie.