SOMETHING GOOD COMES FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

BP MARKOWITZ TO JOIN CENTER AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TO PRESENT FIRST DEBORAH M. STUCKEY SCHOLARSHIP FUND AWARD

4:00 P.M.

TUESDAY, JUNE 2

BROOKLYN BOROUGH HALL ROTUNDA

209 JORALEMON STREET
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN

BETWEEN COURT AND ADAMS STREETS

Release from Center Against Domestic Violence:

First Deborah M. Stuckey Scholarship Presented at Brooklyn Borough Hall

On Tuesday, June 2, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will join the Brooklyn-based Center Against Domestic Violence's former board chair James P. Stuckey to present the first Deborah M. Stuckey Scholarship Fund award to Bronx Theater High School Relationship Abuse Prevention Program (RAPP) participant Jovan Martinez. 

The Deborah M. Stuckey Scholarship endowment fund was created in 2006 by the Stuckey family, who are long time supporters of the Center.  The endowment, which now totals more than $125,000, was started because of the Stuckeys' commitment to the giving young people who have experienced intimate partner violence the opportunity to realize their full creative and intellectual potential.  High School seniors in the Center's programs who are accepted for enrollment in an accredited college, university, or trade school are eligible to apply for funds.  The scholarship endowment is still growing and welcomes contributions.

The Center Against Domestic Violence is a pioneer in relationship abuse prevention in the schools.  Through RAPP, the Center teaches young people at eleven high school campuses and four intermediate schools about the warning signs of relationship abuse and how they can prevent it.

Ms. Martinez has been a member of the RAPP program for the past two years, first as a program participant, then as a peer leader.  RAPP Coordinator Lauren Lichtenstein states, "Jovan is one of the hardest working students I have ever encountered, and the most impressive student in terms of pure ambition and the ability to overcome setbacks."  The Deborah M. Stuckey Scholarship will pay tuition for Ms. Martinez to attend Delaware State University's Project Success program this summer, after which she will attend the University where she plans to major in psychology.  Mr. Stuckey said, "This is exactly why Deborah and I established the scholarship--to give young people the hand they need to become the best they can be."

For more than thirty years, the Center Against Domestic Violence has been working toward a society free from violence by transforming the lives of victims and raising awareness in our communities.  The Center opened the first publicly-funded shelter in New York State and now operates three full-service shelters for victims and their children, offering childcare, job assistance, housing placement, counseling and other crucial services.  Groundbreaking education programs teach more than 30,000 young people each year how to prevent domestic violence and have healthy relationships.