Public Health Heroes Awards Ceremony

Founded in 1980 by Esta Soler, the Family Violence Prevention Fund is a national nonprofit organization that focuses on domestic violence education, prevention and public policy reform. The central mission of the fund is to stem the epidemic of violence in our homes through the development of pioneering prevention strategies in the justice, public education, and health fields.

Under Ms. Soler's guidance, the fund has become the nation's Special Issue Resource Center for Domestic Violence and Health-Related Issues, functioning as the national clearinghouse for domestic violence as a health issue, distributing information to medical researchers, health care professionals and others on the topic. In addition, the Fund has developed a National Health Initiative on Domestic Violence, which is designed to assess and improve hospital emergency department response to battered women. Through this initiative, a model protocol and training program for emergency health care workers is being developed.

Ms. Soler has become a nationally recognized leader in the campaign to stop domestic violence, serving as an advisor to many private and governmental organizations, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Milbank Memorial Fund. Ms. Soler has been appointed to the Presidential Commission on Crime Control and Prevention and the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women. She is the former chairperson of the Human Rights Commission for the City and County of San Francisco, and was instrumental in the enactment of the City's landmark AIDS discrimination legislation.

Award Presenter

Dr. Liz McLoughlin, director of programs for the Trauma Foundation at San Francisco General Hospital, has worked with Ms. Soler since 1993 to improve the health system's response to battered women. Among their goals has been finding ways to bridge the gap between academicians who are addressing domestic violence and those who approach the issue from an activist point of view.

	1998 Organizational Hero Esta Soler & the Family Violence Prevention Fund	Other 1998 Heroes International Rodrigo Guererro, M.D., Dr. P.H. National Laurie Garrett Regional Dorothy P. Rice, Sc. D.
1998 Organizational Hero - Esta Soler & the Family Violence Prevention Fund Founded in 1980 by Esta Soler, the Family Violence Prevention Fund is a national nonprofit organization that focuses on domestic violence education, prevention and public policy reform. The central mission of the fund is to stem the epidemic of violence in our homes through the development of pioneering prevention strategies in the justice, public education, and health fields. Under Ms. Soler's guidance, the fund has become the nation's Special Issue Resource Center for Domestic Violence and Health-Related Issues, functioning as the national clearinghouse for domestic violence as a health issue, distributing information to medical researchers, health care professionals and others on the topic. In addition, the Fund has developed a National Health Initiative on Domestic Violence, which is designed to assess and improve hospital emergency department response to battered women. Through this initiative, a model protocol and training program for emergency health care workers is being developed. Ms. Soler has become a nationally recognized leader in the campaign to stop domestic violence, serving as an advisor to many private and governmental organizations, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Milbank Memorial Fund. Ms. Soler has been appointed to the Presidential Commission on Crime Control and Prevention and the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women. She is the former chairperson of the Human Rights Commission for the City and County of San Francisco, and was instrumental in the enactment of the City's landmark AIDS discrimination legislation. Award Presenter Dr. Liz McLoughlin, director of programs for the Trauma Foundation at San Francisco General Hospital, has worked with Ms. Soler since 1993 to improve the health system's response to battered women. Among their goals has been finding ways to bridge the gap between academicians who are addressing domestic violence and those who approach the issue from an activist point of view.