YUMA, Ariz.-
“Seeing the trauma that families would go through, when they were victims of crime, you realize that people did need someone to hold their hand and walk them through,” is how Diane Umphress, Executive Director of Amberly’s Place, describes how important her role is at the facility.
Diane’s name rings throughout Yuma County as many organizations around town are constantly putting on events that benefit Amberly’s Place. Their mission? To help victims of abuse whether be child abuse, domestic violence, or sexual assault with the help of community services providers.
As the executive director, Umphress tell us how she got started in leading the ways to helping victims.
“When I met Amberly’s mom, that was probably the hook for me, because this family had gone through a horrific loss, of a nine year old little girl and there was no one there to hold their hand and walk them through the process,” said Umphress, “That really made me realize how important what we were trying to do really is and how we could help families survive trauma and even come out stronger.”
As the number of abuse victims increase every year, Umphress says they need a place to accommodate more people than their current space.
After tremendous help from the community and her teams hard work, Umphress is happy to show us around the new facility and the promise it has for the future of Amberly’s Place.
“It’s been a long 2 years, it’s been over two years that we’ve really been working on this, and we’re not there yet, but we needed this new facility because we are the only victims center in all of Yuma County,” said Umphress, “this building is designed, where you come in you either go to a family room, or to a play room and as you do, psychologically and emotionally you are always moving forward. You go form this room to an interview room to a medical room, to the kid’s pantry to have something to eat, then you go through the exit play room, or through the entry way and then you leave, so you’re always moving forward.”
Moving forward is why Umphress loves what she does and why the residents in Yuma are thankful to her and her teams dedication to changing the lives of those in need.
When asked what she loves most about what she does, she says, “I love walking or running into them a Wal-Mart or target or whatever and them going, ‘Guess what? I just got a new job,’ or, ‘Hey guess what? I just bought my first house,’ or, ‘Hey guess what,? You know, I just graduated from high school.’ There’s nothing better, there’s nothing better, than seeing them spread their wings, and become the people that you knew that they capabilities of being”