​
(812) 437-7233

Board Member Onboarding

Welcome to the Board of Directors for Holly’s House! I am glad you have chosen to serve with us as we guide the direction of Holly’s House in its mission to empower victims of intimate crime and abuse by providing support, promoting justice, and preventing violence. With this position comes responsibilities and decision-making powers that will shape the operations and future of Holly’s House.

Your role on this board will include not only participation as a voting member, but also duties as a committee member. I will talk to you about the unique talents that you offer to the board and which committees could make the best use of these skills. In addition, every member of the board is expected to contribute to the fundraising responsibilities needed to keep Holly’s House functioning. Some board members provide personal financial gifts, while others assist with securing community or corporate donations. However, you choose to participate, please know that your contribution is an integral part of the continued operation of Holly’s House.

Our board meetings occur once monthly and last about 1.5 hours. You will be provided with an agenda in advance of the meeting.

It is an honor to have you agree to serve on our board and I hope this will be the beginning of a rewarding experience for you. If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me (email) or Kristine Cordts, our Executive Director, at the Holly’s House office 812-437-7233.

Sincerely,                                   
                                  
Cindi Clayton
Board President
​​Vision, Mission, and Goals

​Meet Our Board

​Org Chart & Committees  

​Advisory Board

​Staff

Holly's House History
​
Board Responsibilities

​New Member Checklist

​Meetings

​Board Bylaws
​
​Acronyms

​Finance and Funding

FAQs

Introduction to
​Holly's House

 This video provides an overview of Holly's House and our services, and is shared publicly when we are promoting our organization. More photos & videos are accessible here, and information about our origin story and co-founders is accessible here.

Vision, Mission, and Goals

VISION
To be a local leader in preventing intimate crimes and supporting victims and their families, while bringing awareness to the community.

MISSION
Holly’s House empowers victims of intimate crime and abuse by providing support, promoting justice, and preventing violence.


The services at Holly’s House focus on achieving our mission by …
  • Providing support to ensure victims of intimate crime receive compassionate and high-quality services as they heal, both physically and emotionally. Holly’s House collaborates closely with several community partners to help clients access counselors, medical care, and other advocacy services.
  • Promoting justice through our process for interviewing victims of intimate crimes. Holly’s House provides a comforting and confidential environment for victims to report the crime. These conversations are recorded to ensure the investigative team has an accurate account of the victim's statement and to protect the victim from multiple interviews with numerous people and agencies.
  • Preventing violence through community-based education and awareness activities that build knowledge about intimate crimes and skills for individuals to better protect themselves as we work toward eliminating the occurrence of intimate crimes in our community.

GOALS
The Executive Committee has worked to develop three goals for the organization, noting the need to sustain current growth.
  • Perfecting processes for our three areas of work (client services, prevention, and fundraising)
  • Insuring best practices and strengthening partner relationships through the accreditation process.
  • Further developing the board and advisory board to create community support and assist in completing organizational goals.

Back to Top

Meet Our Board

KRISTINE CORDTS

Executive Director | Email

CINDI CLAYTON

Board President | Email
​Instructor, USI

SARAH FLAMION

Past Board President | Email
​Research Architect, Salesforce

BECKY BRINKMAN

PAT CHANDLER

AMY FOLZ

Treasurer | Email
Outsourcing Manager, Harding, Shymanski & Company

Secretary | Email
​Executive Consultant, PMC Integrations

Vice President | Email
Director, High Voltage Operations, CenterPoint

JAMIE DAMERON

Email
​Partner, Farmer, Scott, Ozete, Robinson & Schmitt, LLP

LUKE FREIBERGER

Email
Evansville Garage Doors

ELISSA HEWINS

Email
​Attorney, Social Security Office

JON NGUYEN

SARA ROGIER

​Email
Sr. Business Analyst, Oracle

Email
​Financial Advisor, Baird Financial
​The Reynolds Rogier Group

Back to Top

Board Org Chart and Committees

Back to Top

Advisory Board

SACHA ARMSTRONG

Past Board President
​Attorney, Robert John & Associates

HOLLY DUNN PENDLETON

Co-Founder
Author & Inspirational Speaker

JACKIE RUSSELL

Past Board President
​VP & Trust Officer, Baird Trust

MARTHA SEAL

Past Development Director
Community Advocate

BRIAN TURPIN

Co-Founder
(Retired) Detective, EPD

​MIKE WINGO

Past Executive Committee
(Retired) Maintenance Manager, Toyota

Back to Top

Holly's House Staff

KRISTINE CORDTS

Executive Director

CHRISTY BORG

Assistant Director of Client Services

DONNA GRANT

Assistant Director, Prevention

MICAH FLOYD

MARIA FLYNN

KIRSTEN HARCOURT

Prevention Educator

Prevention Educator

Forensic Interviewer

CARRIE HARRIS

Prevention Educator

MEGHANN HERRENBROOK

Prevention Educator

PATTI NELSON

Executive Assistant/Victim's Advocate

ELIZABETH OVERFIELD

Forensic Interviewer

SALLY PAYNE

Assistant Director of Development

CRYSTAL SISSON

Assistant Director, Research and Prevention Strategy

LINDSAY TAYLOR

               KAREN THEIN

           Prevention Educator                                        Prevention Educator

Back to Top

Holly's House History

Board Responsibilities

PURPOSE
To advise, govern, oversee policy and direction, and assist with the leadership and general promotion of Holly's House so as to support the organization's mission and needs.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES
  • Organizational leadership and advisement
  • Organization and recruitment of the board of directors, officers, and committees
  • Formulation and oversight of policies and procedures
  • Financial management, including adoption and oversight of the annual budget
  • Oversight of program planning and evaluation
  • Personnel evaluation and staff development
  • Review of organizational and programmatic reports
  • Promotion of the organization
  • Fundraising and outreach
Members of the board share these responsibilities while acting in the interest of Holly's House. Each member is expected to make recommendations based on his or her experience and vantage point in the community.

LENGTH OF TERM
Board Member terms are generally three (3) years and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. A former Board Member who has been off the Board of Directors for a period of one year is again eligible for election and service on the Board of Directors. 

EXPECTATIONS
  • Attend and participate in meetings and special events.
  • Serve on a standing committee of the board and participate on ad-hoc committees, as necessary.
  • Be alert to community concerns that can be addressed by the Holly’s House mission, objectives, and programs.
  • Help communicate and promote the mission and programs of Holly’s House to the community.
  • Become familiar with Holly’s House finances, budget, and financial/resource needs.
  • Understand the policies and procedures of Holly’s House.
  • Financially support Holly’s House in a manner commensurate with one’s ability. This can be through personal donation or securing donations from other sponsors/companies. 
  • Select and support the executive director.
  • Participate in an annual assessment of the performance of the board.
  • Participate in future organizational visioning and implementation.

BACKGROUND CHECK
In alignment with our child protective policies and grant agreements, you will be sent a form to complete so that we can conduct a background check on you. Your form can be forwarded to Patti Nelson, Executive Assistant. This information will be processed by the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) Central Office Background Check Unit. You will receive an email from KidTracks Support once they receive your information.

You will also need to get fingerprinted as part of the Limited Adult Criminal History Check. This can be done at the Vanderburgh County Jail (3500 North Harlan Drive, Evansville, IN 47711). Contact Karen Rickelman at 812-421-6200 to set up an appointment, and bring your completed fingerprint card to the Holly's House office when this is done.

Back to Top

Suggested New Member Orientation Checklist​

Facility & Staff

Tour the facility      750 North Park Drive, Evansville, IN 47710 (Contact Kristine to schedule a good time.)
Meet the staff         For any staff who are available, introduce yourself and help build our staff-board relationship.

Learn and Engage

Meetings      Review the agenda before meetings, and come prepared to participate.
Website         Review the Holly's House website, so you can see how we present information about our organization to others.
Onboarding     Read through these onboarding document, and let one of the board members know if you have questions.
​

Extra Credit

Darkness to Light     Online 'Darkness to Light: Stewards of Children' training is available on their website for $10
Prevention     Work with our prevention team to arrange to observe a prevention program session (on-site or via Zoom)

Back to Top

Meetings

Meetings are held the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 4 pm CT and typically last 1.5 hrs.
​Committees may meet as needed outside regular board meeting time to work on their respective priorities. 

Back to Top

Acronyms

Like any organization, Holly's House uses a number of acronyms. The following list is a (non-exhaustive) list of terms you may hear in our meetings.

ACES - Adverse Childhood Experiences
APAC - American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (Crystal just spoke at their conference in 2022)
CAC - Child Advocacy Center
CPI - Child Protection Index
CPS - Child Protective Services
DCS - Department of Child Services
DEI - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DOJ - Department of Justice
EPD - Evansville Police Department
EVSC - Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation
ICJI - Indiana Criminal Justice Institute
MDLF - Mitch Daniels Leadership Fellow (Crystal Sisson is a Fellow!)
MDT - Multi-Disciplinary Team
MOU - Memorandum of Understanding
NCA - National Children's Alliance (organization who manages CAC accredidation)
OMS - Outcome Measurement System
OOS - Out of State
SANE - Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner
TFSS - Think First Stay Safe (the prevention program we currently use)
VOCA - Victims of Crime Act (source of one of our major grants)
YOY - Year Over Year
YTD - Year To Date

Back to Top

Finance and Funding

Nonprofit boards need up-to-date financial information to make informed decisions.

Approving the annual budget is initially staff’s responsibility, but board members (those on the “finance committee” and or “executive committee”) often review the proposed and the full board usually adopts the budget at a full board meeting. The approved budget serves as a guide for financial activity in the months ahead.

Board members are fiduciaries for the nonprofit’s assets and therefore have a responsibility to ensure that assets are not mis-used. The board does this by making sure that they have adopted and are adhering to internal controls. A financial scorecard is included in the monthly agenda and a financial overview is conducted every second month.

Funding Types in 2021/2020 : Corporate, Individual, Government, Fundraisers, Endowment, Private Foundations, Local Organizations, Restricted Other, Interest Income, Gain/Loss Investments, Product Sales, In Kind, Other Income

Glossary of Financial Terms (excerpted from this website)

Back to Top

Frequently Asked Questions

We do have an FAQ page on our public-facing site. A few other frequently asked questions that may be of interest:
What actually happens when someone comes to Holly’s House to report a crime?
In a single visit:
  • Staff connects victims and their families with partner agencies and other community resources that support the healing process.
  • Staff explains what to expect in the process that follows the report.
  • The interview with the victim is recorded and shared with law enforcement, child protection services, and prosecutors to support the pursuit of justice.
  • Children talk to a certified child forensic interviewer or adults meet with a detective
This all occurs in one visit, at one place for the comfort of the victim and to support their healing from that point forward.

You can also watch the What to Expect video we share with parents.
Do we charge money for any holly's house services?
All Holly's House services are free.
is holly's house a shelter?
Holly’s House is not a shelter or an overnight facility
DOES HOLLY'S HOUSE DUPLICATE ANY LOCAL SERVICES?
  • Services at Holly’s House utilize a partnership model. 
  • Services are not duplicated. Instead, other community partners come to Holly’s House to meet with the clients and initiate services.
WHO ARE SOME OF HOLLY'S HOUSE'S PRIMARY PARTNERS?
INVESTIGATION PARTNERS
Holly’s House works with law enforcement to record the victim’s statement, utilizing a consistent method which supports future court proceedings.

The following Evansville Police Department Offices are located at the Holly’s House facility: 

  • Domestic Violence Unit,
  • Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.
  • Sexual Violence Unit


COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Holly’s House works closely with staff from both Albion Fellows Bacon Center and the Lampion Center.

  • Albion Fellows Bacon Center provides ongoing support and services for victims of sexual or domestic violence. They have a shelter for those who need a safe place to stay in order to escape violence.
  • The Lampion Center provides counseling services for children and adults who have experienced violence.
why does the community need holly's house?
  • 1 in 10 children will be sexually abused before the age of 18.
  • Over 91% of children who are sexually abused know the perpetrator of the abuse; in at least 33% of these cases, the perpetrator is a family member. This is a big reason we no longer teach "Stranger Danger" - fewer than 4% of child sexual abuse incidents involve a stranger. 
  • 1 in 4 women will experience domestic or sexual violence.
  • Approximately 1 in 5 female and 1 in 10 male high school students report being physically or sexually abused by a dating partner.
what are the long term consequences of not reporting abuse?
  • According to the Center for Disease Control,  abused children who do not receive intervention are more likely to struggle with:
    • Being in an abusive relationship as an adult either as the victim or the aggressor
    • Teen pregnancy
    • Criminal behavior
    • Drug and alcohol addiction
    • Mental Health - anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and increased likelihood of successfully committing suicide 
    • School - inability to concentrate, poor attendance, poor grades, delayed cognitive development, delayed language development,  poor social and emotional skills, and dropping out of school

Back to Top

Holly's House, Inc.  |  P.O. Box 4125, Evansville, IN 47724
Phone: 812-437-7233  |  Fax: 812-437-7241  
Privacy Policy