Experts on Helping People and Their Pets from Domestic Violence Are Spotlighted on the Oh Behave Show
Statistics show that one in four women and one in five men are reported to be victims of domestic violence. And, sometimes, their beloved pets are also harmed. Fortunately, help for them is growing. On this special episode, Oh Behave show host Arden Moore speaks with three key people in the campaign to end domestic violence against people and their pets. The episode features Nicole Forsyth, president and CEO of RedRover as well as from Safe Voices in Franklin, Maine - executive director Elise Johansen and director of shelter and housing, Noelle Coyne.
BIO:
Nicole Forsyth
Since 2006, Nicole Forsyth has served as President and CEO of RedRover, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that brings animals out of crisis and strengthens the bond between people and pets. To better reflect its work, she led the organization through a major rebranding effort in 2011, which successfully laid the groundwork for current growth initiatives. RedRover now has a staff of 24 and a budget of $5.9 million. The organization is focused on three main programs, all steadily growing in size and impact: RedRover Relief, RedRover Responders and RedRover Readers. Each program reflects the philosophy that pets are family. The RedRover Responders and RedRover Relief programs help people and animals in crisis. Whether people are facing a natural disaster, pandemic, emergency veterinary expense or difficulty escaping an abuser, these programs work to keep people and their pets together during a crisis whenever possible.
Elise Johansen, Safe Voices Executive Director
Elise Johansen is the Executive Director of Safe Voices, the domestic abuse and sex trafficking resource center serving Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford Counties in Maine. In more than 20 years as a professional within the nonprofit and social justice fields, Elise has worked at all levels, from direct service to grant oversight to agency administration and vision. Since joining Safe Voices in 2015, she is perhaps most proud of the strides the agency has made in creating Maine’s first pet-friendly domestic violence shelter (joined by another pet-friendly Safe Voices shelter in January, 2023) and the opening of the state’s first and only emergency safe house for survivors of human sex trafficking. In 2021, Elise led Safe Voices into its first ever capital campaign, The Blueprint, which raised over $1.5 million. Prior to her work at Safe Voices, she was the executive director for Equality Maine and has held leadership positions with Planned Parenthood and Goodwill’s traumatic brain injury program. She received her MFA in creative writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University and lives in Harpswell with her wife Shaun and their dogs Sigi and Ginsburg.
Noelle Coyne, Safe Voices Director of Shelter and Housing Services
Noelle Coyne is the Director of Shelter and Housing Service for Safe Voices. As a dedicated expert in the field of domestic abuse and homelessness, Noelle leads a team of shelter and housing advocates in operating Safe Voices’ two domestic violence shelters as well as its safe house for survivors of human sex trafficking. She spearheaded the effort to make all Safe Voices shelters pet-friendly, creating the first ever pet friendly shelter in the state of Maine in 2019 and expanding it to the newest shelter, opened in January 2023. During her 10 years with Safe Voices, Noelle has been a vocal advocate for making more shelters pet friendly, and she is a resource for other shelters in the state who are considering the shift. In addition to her work at Safe Voices, she is a dedicated advocate to end homelessness in the state of Maine and serves on the Statewide Homeless Council and as co-chair of the Maine Shelter Network. She lives in Otisfield with a happy pack of animals, including her two dogs, Remington and Jeter, a cat, a flock of chickens and ducks, and three goats.