Archive for the ‘Other’ Category
As you know, I often like to talk about the causes I am involved with outside the real estate business. This isn’t about real estate, but it is about something important impacting families in our community…
On Saturday, I will get to speak to 200 women in the Junior League of San Francisco about domestic violence at a training event. Domestic violence is an issue I have always been passionate about. Shortly after college, I volunteered at a shelter for battered women in Mesa, Arizona. Working in the shelter directly with women and children impacted by the horror of domestic violence forever changed my life and viewpoint.
In the years since then, I have worked with a variety of different community programs that support victims of domestic abuse. What I never expected was to see it first hand with a dear friend. Imagine waking up one morning to find a text message from a close friend saying she was in the hospital because her husband had beat her up. Severely.
I am not going to go into details here, but the thought of it makes me shake with anger. Many times people think domestic violence is an issue that impacts poor people. Immigrants. It doesn’t impact the educated, the rich, the successful people.
Well, anyone who thinks that is wrong. Domestic violence is occurring in Marin County. It is occurring in San Francisco. It is happening in Pac Heights, Kentfield and Ross. Highly educated women are being abused.
This is a short version of two stories I will get to speak about on Saturday:
Amanda Norris, 21 Killed October 27, 2005
Her ex-boyfriend harassed and threatened her for three years, once even carrying her down the street in an attempted kidnapping until someone sprayed mace on him. Her ex-boyfriend was on probation stemming from his multiple acts of domestic violence against Amanda when he murdered her and shoved her body in the trunk of his car.
Amanda Branson, 35 Killed May 11, 2002
Amanda was a mother who was stabbed to death the night before Mother’s Day in front of her two children. Police found a bouquet of red roses and a Mother’s Day Card that her husband wrote promising everlasting love. Her husband was convicted of murder.
(*name and some details changed to protect identities)
I hope these stories make you sick. They should. Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten. In fact, at least one in every three women in America has been beaten, coerced or abused during her lifetime and over one-third of the murders in America take place between family members. Tragically. the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence estimates that up to 90 percent of battered women never report their abuse.
Women you may know are being abused. They may not look like victims of domestic violence, but it is happening. If you or anyone you know need assistance, there are many local resources.
For more information:
- In Marin, contact Marin Abused Women’s Services- http://www.maws.org/
- In San Francisco, contact La Casa de las Madres- http://www.lacasadelasmadres.org/
Image courtesy of AgentGenius
This is my 200th post on Blog by the Bay. I had a very different post planned, but this one was much more important. My friend, fellow real estate agent and blogger Bill Lublin tragically lost his wife Sheila yesterday. I was very fortunate to have met Sheila just a few weeks ago in San Francisco. As moms, we had an instant connection and spent a long time chatting and getting to know each other. She was an amazing lady and an inspiration.
I met Bill through the real estate community, we are both writers for AgentGenius.com and he has become my friend. I am terribly saddened by the Lublin family’s tragic loss. My heart goes out to Bill and the Lublin family.
On a positive note, I am honored to be part of a community that is amazingly supportive of each other. I have seen the outpouring of love for Bill today. Many of us are contributing money to help food deliveries for Bill and his son from local Philadelphia area restaurants/deli’s. Please join us in making a contribution by clicking here to contribute. Excess donations will be sent to the American Cancer Society.
Services for Sheila will be held on Friday August 8, at 10:00am ET at:
Goldstein’s Rosenberg Rafael Sacks Funeral Homes
310 Second Street Pike
South Hampton, PA 18966
Other posts in memory of Sheila:
- Agent Genius
- Jack Boardman – Our Saint Paul
- Sarah Cooper – The Putnam Scoop
- Dale Chumbley
- Jeremy Hart – NRV Living
- Paula Henry – Indy Real Estate Talk
- Mike Mueller – Social Media.ist
- Matt Rathbun – The Agent Trainer
- Jay Thompson- The Phoenix Real Estate Guy
Love is stronger than death even though it can’t stop death from happening, but no matter how hard death tries it can’t separate people from love. It can’t take away our memories either. In the end, life is stronger than death. Author unknown.
In honor of Bill and Sheila, BlogbytheBay will go dark on Friday. Cherish each minute with those you love.
You might be surprised how easy it is to find out:
- your home addresses- for the past twenty years
- names and ages of spouses, siblings, parents and more
- much, much more
Today I stumbled across two search engines, Zabasearch.com and Peoplefinders.com. I am sure there are many others. One quick search on peoplefinders and I saw my name, age (my age is right in one spot, OLDER in another- now that is just wrong!), and a listing of my possibly relatives + their ages. Pay a small fee and you can get home phone numbers, home addresses, and even my exact birthdate (which thankfully might be wrong in at least one spot!)