It is hard to believe that more than 22 years have passed since Bob Mark and Buddy Portugal hosted the first Victories weekend. Since then, we have helped over 4,000 men to become better husbands, fathers, friends, and members of their communities by offering weekends that our graduates often describe as "life changing" and, in some cases, even "life saving." Our formula for success is the same today as it was in 1985: we are men building relationships. We believe that men's lives and those of the people closest to them are greatly enriched as they improve their ability to create healthy, honest, and open connections.

The past twelve months have been exciting and successful. More men graduated from our weekend and training programs in 2007 than in any previous year. As a result, we continue to expand, adding a September BreakThrough Weekend to the schedule for 2008 and offering more than twice as many weekend programs as we did just a few years ago.

Our ability to provide increased services despite the financial limitations so common to small nonprofit organizations has largely resulted from the strong support we receive from our community. Your generous contributions have also enabled us to continue our robust scholarship program and to begin building an institution that will sustain Buddy's and Bob's vision well into the future.

In August, the Victories board of directors adopted a strategic plan that will provide us with a roadmap for the next three years. Its key goals are to:


Our hope is to increase earned revenue and donated funds so that we can appoint an Executive Director, enhance marketing efforts, and provide additional programs while preserving our ability to offer scholarship assistance.

 

As we developed our strategic plan, we were mindful of the many graduates who have expressed an interest in additional programs that will help them to build upon their weekend experiences. With this in mind, we are pleased to announce that in 2008 we will launch the Victories Forum, a series of three-hour workshops on matters of importance to men and their families. Thus far, workshops have been scheduled for six Saturday mornings, all at the Evanston Ecology Center and all running from 9:00am to noon. Here are the tentative
dates and topics:


The fee for each Victories Forum workshop is $20 per person. Members of the Sustaining Circle (see article below) may attend free of charge. A final, detailed workshop schedule will be announced shortly after the first of the year.

As we plan for long-term sustainability, we seek new and productive approaches to funding it. Through the development of our strategic plan, we have determined that in part this will be accomplished through increased programming, moderate increases in fees, and expanded opportunities for charitable donations.

One of the initiatives you can expect to hear about in 2008 is our creation of the Sustaining Circle, a voluntary, dues paying membership group within the Victories community. In return for a tax deductible contribution of $200, members will be recognized as sustaining benefactors and will receive a variety of benefits including free admission to Victories Forum programs, discounts on our weekend programs and annual dinner, mention in our next year-end report, and the option to be included in a Sustaining Circle Membership Directory designed to promote networking with others in our community. The greatest benefit of membership will be the personal knowledge that you are contributing to an organization deidcated to freeing men from the obstacles that prevent them from realizing their dreams and helping them improve their lives through deeper self-knowledge, stronger relationships, and re-energized careers.

We are keenly aware that many of our weekend participants have learned about our programs through counselors, therapists, and other professionals. We are also aware that these professionals have increasingly come to regard us as a source of valuable information on men and their concerns. As a way of thanking our referral sources and sharing our knowledge with them, Victories of the Heart recently hosted "Men In Relationships: A Workshop for Psychotherapists." The program, which was held on September 14, 2007, was presented by a panel that included several of our weekend leaders and, through our recent certification with the State of Illinois, offered three continuing education units (CEU) at no charge to the more than 75 licensed clinical social workers (LCSW) and licensed clinical professional counselors (LCPC) who attended.

Because of this program's enthusiastic reception, we have decided to continue and expand upon it in the months ahead. In September of 2008 we will once again offer our referral sources a complementary half-day workshop and the opportunity to earn three CEU. In addition, we are planning a full-day psychodrama workshop for the spring, which will provide six CEU. We will also be working to certify the BreakThrough and Wisdom Years weekends for continuing education credit.
 
If you would like to receive further information about these programs, please contact Rick Simon (rick.simon@victoriesoftheheart.net). We are proud of the knowledge we have developed over the past 22 years and are pleased to share it with the professional community.

A group formed by men who attended BreakThrough weekends in 1991, 1997, and 1999 is seeking to add new members. Sevaral have also completed the Wisdom Years program. Meetings are held on alternate Wednesday evenings in the northern suburbs.

A second  group with 8 members meeting  every other Thursday from 7-10 would also like to is also seeking to add men. Six of us the current group are from the October, 1999 BreakThrough weekend.

For further information, please contact Rick Simon (rick.simon@victoriesoftheheart.net). Men seeking groups and groups seeking to merge or add members should also contact Rick.