Testimonials

From Executive Directors:

CVVC has greatly benefited from sending staff to PVAA each year - all have come back with a greater understanding of the victim service profession as well as with increased learning and enhanced skills that can be put to immediate use.

Stephanie Walsh, MSW, LSW
The Center for Victims of Violence and Crime

PVAA has provided Susquehanna Valley Women In Transition outstanding training opportunities. PVAA graduates return with enthusiasm and excitement about the work they do and the skills they bring to their work. The bottom line is that victims receive effective services that make a difference in their lives.

Marty Gates, Ph.D.
Susquehanna Valley Women in Transition

Victims Resource Center's management philosophy values ongoing training, networking and growth opportunities for its victim advocates. The PVAA offers the perfect opportunity for an in depth experience that provides a wide expanse of information, an opportunity to share and learn from peers and time away from daily work to reflect and grow personally and professionally. Thank you for the opportunity PVAA provides annually. We are committed to sending victim advocates each year.

Janet MacKay
Victims Resource Center

From Our Students:

I want to thank you for making all of this go so smoothly. It takes a great deal of patience to be able to make so many of us happy, you are amazing! I want to thank The University of Scranton for making this possible and seeing us as advocates, in particular as professionals.

It was a privilege to be part of such a powerful learning experience. I definitely came away with a renewed sense of dedication to my job and the victims I serve.

What can I say, but GREAT!! What a week! So much information and a great resource book, which I have used many times since I came back.

I would describe the PVAA training as the best training I have had. It opened up new sources of information for me. Everyone at the academy---students and staff-was so nice. It was useful, helpful, and a wonderful opportunity for me.

Looking back, I have come to appreciate the experience more than I thought I would when I was going through it. The Academy helped me fill in areas that I didn't have knowledge about and also reinforced the fact that I did have a lot of knowledge that was valuable and of use in my profession. It is very gratifying to know that the work I do is seen as a profession and that I am a professional. It is not often that advocates are recognized for the work we do. Being seen and treated as a professional was greatly appreciated.

The talented instructors have offered me knowledge of the victim services field and my classmates have given me friendship that will last a lifetime.

The academy experience was an incredible, empowering and motivating experience. I learned a great deal about dealing with victims of crime. But more importantly, I learned a lot about myself. I learned about my strengths and about my weaknesses. I learned to trust my experience. I learned that here are a multitude of talented, gifted individuals who choose to push themselves to their limits every day on behalf of survivors. And I got an incredible number of resources, an enormous amount of resource material. I am still going through it! And the food was amazing.

It was an uplifting experience. The enthusiasm, determination and overall positive attitudes of others, working in the same difficult field, were infectious. It renews your spirit to be surrounded by others who embrace this type of work and reminds you of why you started this journey in the first place.

During the graduation ceremony, at the end of the week, I realized what a good week it had been. It was evident that a lot of work had gone into the preparation of the academy. The academy staff received a standing ovation from all the students, well-deserved. During the entire week, I never gave [my earlier] anxiety-producing plans a second thought. This was a week to remember.

I enjoyed being a part of the Academy experience. I felt that I was among a group of people who have dedicated a great deal of their time to making sure victims of crime are treated with dignity and respect. In working for a rape crisis center, I am surrounded by individuals trying to make things easier for sexual assault victims. I don't often have the chance to learn about victims of other crimes. The Academy provided me with an opportunity to do just that.

I truly bonded with a few of my classmates whom I did not know before coming to the Academy. I felt connected to these people by the end of the week. This connection also provides me with another resource for victims of crime. I learned a lot from these individuals as well as from others who shared their very painful and challenging experiences. I left the Academy with not only greater knowledge of ways to serve victims but with a sense of motivation and enthusiasm towards the work that I do. Thank you.

The Academy was a wonderful experience. It was emotionally exhausting and challenged some pieces in me that I did not know were still there! It was a time of networking and of building some wonderful friendships. It was also a great way to compare and evaluate programs across the state. The material was extensive and valuable---I am still digesting it all.

The experience will be with me for a life time and the knowledge that I gained is invaluable to me and the clients that I serve. I also learned where my deficits were and am now able to start working on them, with thanks to the Academy; I now know where to turn for those resources. Thank You

The Academy experience was the most valuable training I've had to date. The speakers were amazing. The staff went above and beyond my expectations. I didn't think that in 4 short days we'd be able to get into as much as we did. But boy, did we ever!! Thanks to you and the staff for all you did. I can't thank you enough.