What is your full name?
Cristina Desiree Perez Montoute
What is your preferred name?
Cristina Perez
What is your job title at the WCA?
Victim Advocate
What do you do in your job at the WCA?
As Victim Advocates, we provide services that support clients who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking/harassment. Several of these services include assistance with filling out civil protection orders, court accompaniment, safety planning, family law appointments, legal referrals, and offering community/legal resources. We help clients navigate the civil justice system, which can be confusing to many.
How long have you been with the WCA?
I’ve been at the WCA for only one month! I’m brand new!
Where did you work prior to joining the WCA team?
Before joining the WCA team, I was an admin assistant in a department at Boise State while completing my master’s degree in Health Sciences/Public Health.
Why did you choose to work at the WCA?
During one of my graduate-level women’s health classes, a few of the WCA staff came to talk about the WCA’s mission and its services. The message of fostering a community where individuals can thrive in safe and healthy relationships strongly resonated with me; I believed in what the WCA has achieved and is still achieving. At that moment, I decided to find a way to somehow be involved with the WCA. I graduated this last May 2018, and here I am.
How do you hope to grow as a person through your work here?
In the short time that I’ve been here, I have gained so much knowledge and insight concerning direct victim services, and I’m excited about everything that I still have to learn. The services offered by the WCA are comprehensive, client-centered, trauma-informed, and I know that I will grow professionally and as a person in this environment.
What are you most looking forward to while working at the WCA?
I’m still in the training phase, but I look forward to being able to provide clients with options that could potentially help them take those first steps towards their freedom. I have already been able to witness the sense of relief in the clients’ faces when they realized that they have more options than what they initially thought. It reminds me of how important my role as a Victim Advocate is, and I can’t wait for what’s ahead!
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