99. Nicole Florisi: Reports of Shelter Abuses Exposed and Discussed

Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS

Here’s some information about Nicole, in case some of you are new to Sexual Assault Survivor Stories. Nicole is a frequent guest on this show, and I want you to know some information about her. This information is published by Force Science, Nicole’s employer, on their website: https://www.forcescience.com/instructor/nicole-florisi/

“Nicole Florisi, PsyD Candidate, LEO

Director of Curriculum & Content Development, Staff Instructor Force Science

Biography

Nicole has extensive experience as an educator, police officer, and therapist. She provides front-line instruction in de-escalation, crisis communications, and force encounters investigations. With over 25 years of experience, she has held positions including communications specialist, patrol officer, patrol sergeant, investigator, and acting chief. She has held previous roles as a Law Enforcement Subject Matter Expert at VirTra and as the Executive Director for the Verde Valley Sanctuary; a shelter dedicated to providing services for victims of sex trafficking, sexual violence, and domestic violence. Nicole is currently working on her doctorate in clinical psychology. She holds two post-master’s degrees; one in Human Factors Psychology and one in Trauma Counseling; an M.S. in Professional Counseling; and a B.S. in Public Safety Administration and Emergency Management.”

Just over a month ago, Nicole Florisi reached out to me to let me know that there was a not-so-great situation that had recently come to her attention regarding a domestic violence/sex assault shelter. She told me that several residents of this particular shelter had reached out to inform her that there were some pretty extreme reports of inappropriate behavior and abuses perpetrated on shelter clientele at the hands of some of the shelter staff.

Before I go any further, I want to emphasize that these reports were not initiated by Nicole, but rather by clientele residents of the shelter referenced in the reports. At the time Nicole reached out to me in July, we were not releasing the name of the shelter. But since the time of that recording, reports of the abuses and poor living conditions at the shelter were made public through an article published by the local newspaper, the Sedona Red Rock News.

The shelter at the center of the reports is Verde Valley Sanctuary (VVS), which is the shelter at which Nicole had been the Executive Director. And the reason clientele of the shelter were reaching out to Nicole is because they know her, trust her, and thought that Nicole may be able to help.

These reports had started coming to Nicole in the fall of 2023, and Nicole forwarded those reports, via email, to the shelter administration and board of directors in October, 2023. Because Nicole did not receive any type of acknowledgement of her report from either the shelter or administration, she forwarded a second report to the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (ACESDV). The response that Nicole received from ACESDV, was that “ACESDV has visited the program and has not seen anything of concern.”

But the reports of abuses and lack of services continued to come in from shelter clientele, and now were also being received by staff employees that had been terminated by the new Executive Director. Those same previous VVS personnel were forwarding some of the resident complaints to the newspaper, which in July 2024 published a story, “Verde Valley Sanctuary clients report abuse at shelter”.

When Nicole reached out to me last month and told me about this entire situation, I was resolved to get her on SASS and discuss this situation; not to disparage Verde Valley Sanctuary, but to give an additional voice to the affected clientele residents, and to educate, discuss solutions, and talk about reporting options to my audience in case they are currently in a similar situation or find themselves in a shelter of any kind, anytime in the future.

CURRENT SITUATION:

Since it has been over a month since Nicole and I recorded this episode, I recently reached out to Nicole to let her know the episode was going to be published today (20 August 2024), and to ask her to provide me with any updates that may be available to keep you, my audience, appraised of the situation. Here is the update that Nicole sent to me:

Hi Dave!

Here is an update so far:

After the newspaper article came out, VVS responded to the claims with many false and misleading statements.

Verde Valley Sanctuary Responds to False and Misleading Claims in Recent Media Stories - Verde Valley Sanctuary

We are in the process of responding to this at this time.

The VVS Board President has been making untrue and disparaging remarks about me (and others who brought this to light) in emails to donors.

I do not know the status of my complaints to the state funders, as they are not required to report them to me.

Personnel from sister agencies have come forward to me after hearing about these claims, stating their clients have been telling me about how fearful they were of staff and of their mistreatment, and they have a lot of concerns about working with VVS at this time.

I had hoped we would have something more positive for you by the time this show aired, but we are still fighting the lies, manipulation, and corruption on behalf of the clients. No one should ever be victimized or re-victimized by those who are supposed to help.

Talk to you again soon, hopefully with better news. -Nicole

I hope that this episode provides some enlightenment and valuable educational information to all of my listeners, whatever situation you find yourself in. If you’re a victim or survivor of rape, sexual assault, or any form of interpersonal violence and find yourself in circumstances that necessitate your need to utilize a shelter, of any kind, I hope this information is helpful. If you never need the services of a shelter but know someone who currently is in a shelter or may need a shelter in the future, please pass this episode on to them.

Please hit the subscribe button on whatever podcast platform you found this show, and leave a review, if you would…it helps more than you know!

Also, don’t forget to do your part to help bring justice to victims and survivors of rape or sexual assault. A great way to do this is to Start By Believing!

I am providing some website information, as well as links to the newspaper stories. In addition, you’ll find my email address, as well as Nicole’s, below. Nicole gave me permission to publish her email addresses and would welcome any inquiries for additional information or help for those who are in a similar situation. Please look at these sites, and pass them on to others who may find the information helpful:

https://markel-consulting.com

https://www.forcescience.com/

https://startbybelieving.org

https://www.redrocknews.com/2024/07/18/verde-valley-sanctuary-clients-report-abuse-at-shelter/

https://evawintl.org

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