February 2, 2012
Our February speaker will be Melissa Erlbaum.
Melissa Erlbaum holds a Master's Degree in Public and Nonprofit Administration from San Francisco State University and a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology, Women's Studies and Energy and Environmental Policy from Hunter College, NYC.
Melissa has worked in the field of domestic and sexual violence services and homeless services for over 15 years, beginning as a volunteer at St. Luke's Rape Crisis Center in New York City. Additionally she spent two years working in the field of environmental education, primarily for underserved youth.
While working for Hamilton Family Center in San Francisco as the Pro-gram Director for First Avenues she was responsible for implementing the first "Housing First" model program in San Francisco County and has recently implemented the first comprehensive housing program for survivors in Clackamas County Oregon by developing and leading the Beyond Shelter Initiative.
Currently Melissa works for Clackamas Women's Services (CWS), the only mainstream (private nonprofit) service provider in Clackamas County serving survivors of domestic and sexual violence, dating violence and stalking. Melissa has worked for CWS for four years, moving from the Program Director position to the role of Executive Director in November 2009.
Melissa has been asked to speak at national conferences on the issue of domestic violence and homelessness. Presently Melissa serves as co-chair of the Clackamas County Family Violence Coordinating Council, represents CWS in several local and national initiatives including the United Way of Willamette Valley's Domestic Violence Regional Strategy Leadership Committee
During her tenure at CWS Melissa supported the Emergency Shelter Program in implementing the Rights and Responsibilities Model, an emerging best practice in the field and has grown and strengthened the agency's Community Based Services Program to meet the expanding needs in Clackamas County. CWS is recognized as a leader in a Trauma Informed Care service model within the field of domestic and sexual violence services.
