No stranger to the good people of Warren County, having volunteered and worked for both the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault Crisis Center (DASACC) and United Way of Warren County over the past 15 years, Sarah Brelvi was elected to DASACC’s Board of Trustees as President in January 2020. As president, her goal is to build upon the strong leadership of the past to impact institutional change throughout the county into the future, while expanding on DASACC’s mission to help, serve, and advocate for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, to be proactive in its prevention, and to create positive change. 

Moving from Morris County, Sarah and husband Nazir settled in Allamuchy 30 years ago, where they raised their two children, Jane and Jeff. Along the way, they adopted their little dog Suki. Two and a half years ago, they became proud grandparents to Celine, Jeff and his wife Sabrina’s daughter.

They chose to live in Warren County because it was quiet, homey, and down-to-earth, they said. Of course, commuting on Route 80 was the price they had to pay – at the time, Sarah Brelvi was employed full time by AT&T, and Dr. Nazir Brelvi, an optometrist, was working in Bloomfield. 

Sarah volunteered in the township and at her children’s schools. She served on the Allamuchy Recreation Commission for five years during the 1990s. When first invited to join the Commission, it was all sports. She said, “I didn’t know how to referee, I didn’t know the rules of the games, so I looked around and pondered ‘what don’t we have?’ We didn’t have a program for kids to socialize outside of school, outside of sports, so we started Friday Night Rec.” One Friday night a month during the school year they offered a program at the school, a movie night, dances, things like that, or went bowling at the Oakwood Lanes.

They also arranged bus trips to New York City, starting with a trip to Yankee Stadium. Sarah recalled, “For two years we also hired a bus to Radio City Music Hall. It was quite an experience for everyone. It was nice for people to be exposed to things outside of Warren County.”

While at AT&T, Sarah was asked to represent the company on the United Way of America’s National Leadership Council, alongside other Fortune 500 Companies. The Council opened a discussion about engaging women. Sarah recounted, “They said we’re going to start a National Women’s Leadership Council and asked if I’d sit in on the planning. I was actually one of the founders.”

Sarah’s career at AT&T changed when she was appointed to direct the Employee Workplace United Way Campaign (1999 – 2004) for the entire company – the United States and the United Kingdom. “My responsibilities really started to blossom,” she said. “I worked for AT&T and ran the Workplace United Way Campaign for five or six years. I was fortunate to get an early retirement package in 2005. I didn’t know where I was going to go or what I was going to do but was confident I’d find something.”

It didn’t take long. “Since I was so involved with United Way through AT&T – in Somerset and Morris Counties – United Way of Somerset County phoned to advise me there was a job in Newark at United Way of West Hudson. Aware of my experience with the National Women’s Leadership Council at AT&T, they wanted to launch a Women’s Leadership Program. I interviewed and was hired to be the Director of Major Gifts and Women’s Leadership. I stayed with United Way of West Hudson from 2005 to 2007.”

When Sarah transferred to Warren County from Newark in 2007, United Way of Warren County was in the midst of replacing their president. “My longtime friend Dan Hirshberg was one of the people that recommended I interview for the position. I interviewed and spoke about Women’s Leadership and the things I knew I could bring to the table. That was the very beginning of my involvement with United Way here in Warren County – as President!”

Originally United Way occupied an office in Belvidere, just off the Green on First Street. It was so remote. Sarah suggested they find a new place more centrally located. “We moved to an office on Belvidere Avenue in Washington where we remained for five or six years. When the Tri-County United Ways merged, we relocated to Hackettstown, on Washington Street, by David’s Country Inn. I worked out of that office for two years, after which I retired in 2015,” she said.

In Warren County for almost 40 years, the Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Crisis Center has consistently provided services to those who identify themselves as victims of domestic violence and/or sexual assault. How did Sarah get involved with DASACC? She explained, “My neighbor was Georgette Molloy, one of the founders. During my AT&T days, she urged me to come on the Board of DARCC (Domestic Assault Rape Crisis Center, at the time). I couldn’t make a commitment like that with a full-time career entailing a lot of travel. After retiring from AT&T, I joined the Board in 2005. It was so important for me to continue the good work that my dear friend Georgette began at DASACC many years earlier. I was working in Newark at United Way of West Hudson and I’d come out here once a month for Board meetings with DARCC. Georgette was the motivating factor for me to get involved with DASACC.”

She continued, “At the time, I could sit on DARCC’s Board since United Way in Newark did not fund them. When I came here in 2007 and learned United Way of Warren County funded DARCC I had to step down from their Board. I still supported them, even though I couldn’t influence any decisions.” After retiring from United Way of Warren County four years ago, Sarah opted to wait before joining DARCC’s Board once again.

One day while lunching with her good friend Karen Kubert, a United Way Board member and a founding member of their Women’s Leadership Council Sarah asked how things were going with DASACC. “She said it was a really difficult time. They were coming out of a difficult transition from DARCC to DASACC.”

Sarah continued, “I asked if they’d be interested in me serving on their Board. Karen happened to have a Board meeting that day and brought it to them. They said they’d be honored to have me on the Board. That’s when I met Audrey Schupp, former President of the Board of Trustees (2014 – 2019), and worked more directly with Jill Zinckgraf, executive director (since June 2013), and the staff. I feel like I am doing this work in Georgette’s honor for the families that are impacted by interpersonal violence in Warren County. I came to the agency because of my belief that all people should be treated with kindness and respect. That’s the work that is happening at DASACC and I am honored to be a part of it.”

DASACC’S Board of Trustees worked hard to bring DASACC to financial viability, looking at their current programs to address what other needs existed in the community. “What do we need in the shelter? We didn’t have the extensive robust children’s program that we have now. We hired a grant writer to help procure grants for the necessary programs. We brought in programs for the shelter, we brought in programs to support the children in trauma,” said Sarah.

Sarah spoke about a unique DASACC program. “When women are abused and have a pet in the house, they tend not to leave the home because they want the animal with them, fearing it will be abused by the abuser if left behind. The shelter now has three heated and air-conditioned outdoor kennels, like mini motels! We have crates for smaller animals inside the shelter, too. We’re the only shelter in the state of New Jersey with kennels. It’s completely supported by a grant.”

In September 2018, DASACC launched their Ambassador program. Sarah described that. “We planned a breakfast at Hawk Pointe Golf Club in Washington. We have very strong relationships with many of our donors and John Johnson is one of those strong relationships. He graciously hosted the breakfast. People were invited from throughout the community to learn more about DASACC. Our endeavor was meant to educate and engage key community leaders. We’re not asking people for donations, it’s not a fund development program, the Ambassador program is a community awareness program.”

In Spring 2019, John Johnson once more hosted a gathering at Hawk Pointe, bringing some of those key community leaders from the breakfast in September back to the table to announce DASACC was establishing another community-wide Ambassador program. This coming March, Scott Wolfe (president, St. Luke’s Warren Hospital) and Elisa LaNeve (current DASACC board member) are hosting a breakfast in the Phillipsburg community where they’ll be expanding DASACC’s Ambassador program.

DASACC was seeking a new Board President as then-President Audrey Schupp was preparing to step down. “Looking at the experience that I bring and the relationships that I have with the staff, the executive staff and the Board at DASACC, along with my relationships in the community, it made sense for DASACC because I didn’t have a big learning curve,” Sarah said. “I loved working with Audrey, it’s really light lifting for me now thanks to Audrey’s heavy lifting!” After she was elected in January 2020, Sarah felt confident that reconnecting with the community in her new position would help DASACC in their next steps.

Sarah proudly noted, “Here’s a new program that DASACC recently introduced – an elder abuse program. We just received a grant and are interviewing professionals to start that program with us. What kind of abuse could they be experiencing? They could have been living with abuse their whole lives. They could be physically or mentally abused in whatever living situation they’re currently in. Just because they’re elderly does not mean that they’re not part of the vulnerable population. We also offer in-school awareness programs for the high schools. We have programs at Centenary University, including a dating violence program which we’ve run for years. We’re looking at all the vulnerable populations, including the LGBTQ community.”

Sarah cited DASACC by the numbers: “On average, it will take a woman six or seven attempts to leave her abuser before she finally leaves for good. We offer the only shelter here in Warren County. We have 15 beds. We have served 60 clients at shelter for a total of 4,140 bed nights (34 adults and 26 children). We have handled over 2,260 hotline calls and helped more than 925 clients in outreach. Women and families that come into the shelter are not necessarily all from Warren County. Sometimes, due to safety issues, we take women from out-of-county or out-of-state. At the outreach center, caseworkers work one-on-one or with multiple clients. We recently hired a caseworker for LGBTQ clients.”

How does DASACC disseminate the information to the people that need it most? They partner with organizations in the county, and other non-profits working with vulnerable populations. Sarah said, “We just have to keep getting out there. We have a strong social media platform. We have to have key communicators, someone on the front line at the hospitals to be able to identify abuse. We’re starting to work with people in the general populace of the community. We must continue to educate people. Our Ambassador program really is an education and awareness engagement program. When we hold special events, people become engaged. They recognize the name DASACC. They search out different organizations within the community.”

On a personal note, Sarah was ordained a non-denominational minister through the Universal Life Ministry 12 years ago, and has performed 150 weddings over the past 10 years (www.sayidowithsarah.com). She has never had a political appointment and does not intend to seek one. She and Nazir have traveled to Africa as well as India, where he was honored for his professional and philanthropic work in the United States. They are looking forward to an upcoming road trip across Arizona and Colorado. She recently began teaching Social Responsibility and Ethics at Centenary University in Hackettstown. 

Sarah closed with a grateful nod to her husband of 37 years. “One thing I’d like to acknowledge is the continued encouragement and support I get from Nazir. He understands that this is important to me. I’m grateful to have someone in my life who encourages me. I really am very fortunate to have a family that fully supports me. My motto is when you support the woman, you’re supporting the whole family, and from the whole family, you support the community.” Bringing that philosophy back to DASACC, Sarah explained, “It begins by supporting the woman who is working to keep her family whole. At the shelter we have cooking classes, we have finance classes, women can learn parenting skills. When a woman becomes self-sufficient and lives on her own, it’s a big leap.”

For information about Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Crisis Center (DASACC), their services and how to get involved, please visit www.dasacc.org. 

29c Broad Street, Washington, NJ 07882
24-hour Hotline: 908-453-4181
Outreach/Counseling Offices: 908-453-4121