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New executive director brings decades of experience to Gillette Abuse Refuge Foundation

GARF Executive Director Tatyana Walker. Photo via GARF press release.

GILLETTE, Wyo. — After spending more than two decades working for the YES House charity in Gillette, Tatyana Walker was recently appointed as the executive director of the Gillette Abuse Refuge Foundation, or GARF. Her work helping those who have experienced trauma will help prepare GARF to give those seeking refuge the individualized care they need, she said.

Along with her own knowledge, Walker is planning on incorporating more evidence-based tools and therapies to help clients. Staff at GARF are currently training on a domestic violence assessment tool from Johns Hopkins University called the Danger Assessment.

Administered by a department of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, the tool is used to assess the danger level an abused woman is experiencing and the risk of her being killed by an intimate partner, according the the school’s website.

“We can use this evidence-based tool to assess trauma, and that really gives us a very good foundation of what services and wrap-around services we need to implement for each client in order to help them to address trauma and build the coping skills for safety and a healthy lifestyle,” Walker said.

While much of the skill set from her involvement in previous nonprofits is transferable, there are some differences that she will have to adjust to. Working for the YES House for so many years gave her a lot of experience working with at-risk youth, but the spectrum of needs for GARF’s clientele is much wider.

The needs of a young mother, for example — including childcare, job training or help with completing education — are much different than that of an older client seeking refuge from domestic abuse, Walker said.

“When you get an elderly person, they’re already retired, their plan is so different. You know, they are not thinking about childcare. They’re not thinking about employment. They’re more thinking about where do I want to be living to be safe?” she said.

Walker also brings strong relationships with donors and those at the state from years of grant-writing, something she hopes will be able to bring in more funding to GARF to expand services like therapy and counseling.

Those on staff at GARF had heard about Walker’s extensive grant knowledge and are looking forward to working with her, GARF Advocate Suzie Renken said.

“We are excited for her knowledge and fresh ideas,” Renken said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Suzie Renken’s name. This story had been updated to reflect that error.

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