MayDay pleased with move

MayDay Executive Director Michele Woods said the organization’s new office, which will include a kitchen and utility room in this space, is an improvement over its previous home. (Baker City Herald/Kathy Orr)

The office walls are newly covered with green and purple, colors chosen for their “nurturing and healing” properties, says Michele Woods, MayDay executive director. Area rugs cover the laminate flooring that leads to a cozy waiting area in the center of the building and to a library and reading table at the Resort Street entrance.

The paint was applied and the flooring installed by a crew from the Powder River Correctional Facility.

The nonprofit advocacy center moved from its former location at 1931 Court Ave. in March and welcomed the community to its new digs with an open house last month.

The event provided residents as well as MayDay partners the opportunity to tour the building and to learn more about the services, including prevention activities, offered to victims and their family members, Woods said.

The makings of a kitchen and utility area are taking shape down the hall.

“Often when people come to us they haven’t eaten for a few days,” Woods said. “We have food, but no way to cook it.”

MayDay is seeking donation of a kitchen range, dishwasher and cupboards to add to the washer and dryer already installed in the room, which also serves as a food pantry.

Other items needed to complete the homey atmosphere include a child-size table and oversized love seat for the children’s room along with a television set and DVD player and children’s books.

MayDay’s lending library can always use more books on prevention, meditation and survivors’ stories, Woods said. And used magazines are welcome. They are put to use in collages created by survivors during class time.

Woods said she also is asking the community for quilts that will be used to offer comfort to sexual assault victims after they have been examined at the hospital.

“It’s nice to have a nice blanket or quilt that the victims of sexual assault can wrap up in,” she said.

Woods said the new location provides the agency more visibility and its clients and staff more convenience because of its proximity to the DragonFly resale shop, just two doors down at 1828 Main St.

“Having more space has just been wonderful,” Woods said. “We’ll be able to offer more classes, including full-time kids’ and adult classes.”

In addition to lessons aimed at helping clients make the transition from victims to survivors, Woods said classes about financial management and even some cooking classes will be offered in the future.

“We’re trying to help survivors become self-sufficient,” she said. “They need to know how to prepare a meal and manage money.

“We’re showing people they can make it on their own,” she added.

Woods said MayDay’s numbers have remained high, but she’s not discouraged.

 “They’re willing to reach out for help and they trust us. That’s a good thing — not that there’s violence, but that they know there’s a resource available.”

One area of increasing concern is abuse of the county’s elder and disabled population, she said. MayDay works with those residents to help them obtain restraining orders especially designed for them.

“We’ve had a lot of success with that and it’s working well,” Woods said.

Fundraising, as always is a concern for the nonprofit organization.

“Of course needs are always high and in times like these our demand for services is always higher,” Woods said. “We try to use everything we can to the best of our ability and we’re always looking for ways we can improve.

An upcoming fundraiser this summer is the second-annual Mulligan in the Moonlight Golf Tournament, set for Aug. 28.

Donald Cody, an advocate who also teaches men’s classes, is heading up the tournament, which is hoped to attract at least 12 teams this year. Raffle tickets that offer a chance to win a wide variety of items are being sold for $1 each or six for $5.

Woods said volunteers to help staff the DragonFly for two hours a week also are needed.

More information about MayDay services and activities is available by calling the business office at 541-523-9472.

Other staff members include advocates Toni Bennett and Charlene Robinson; Linda Bjorklund, DragonFly manager; and Ronda Read, sales associate.

MayDay board members are: Jim Tomlinson, president; Cristi Vega, vice president; Sara Morgan, secretary; and Vicki Edmundson, Wyn Lohner and Lynette Perry.