Victim Assistance Snapshots Planning Blog

A stop in Florida is added, and links to participating organizations

vasnapshots — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:28:22 +0000

A new stop in Florida ( http://pcvrc.wordpress.com/ Pinellas County Victim Rights Coalition ) has been posted to the Trip Planning Map.

I’ve also created a Planned Stops page, where I’ll be posting links to organizations, towns or tourist attractions where I plan on stopping. More links will be added as organizations give their permission.

Map updates: Ohio and Alabama

vasnapshots — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:00:57 +0000

Several more stops in Ohio are being planned; location balloons will be posted as plans are finalized. And the first balloon for Alabama goes up, thanks to an invitation from a friend with her own organization!

New agencies added to the tour!

vasnapshots — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:56:21 +0000

Ottawa, Canada, plus Oregon and Washington DC are shaping up to be great areas for the blog tour. New agencies added to the potential itinerary, from both old friends and new… check the map for info!

In some places on the map you’ll see some balloons marked “Agencies to visit”; other markers say “Friends to visit”. Why? Some individuals have offered a place to stay and a tour of their area as a whole, rather than asking that their own organization be showcased. Where this happens, you find me writing a bit of travelogue, plus notes on services for victims I can find in their area.

Welcome to the VASnapshots Travelblog!

vasnapshots — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:25:37 +0000

The VASnapshots Travelblog is a project to organize a North American blogging tour of victim assistance and service organizations, with the intention of promoting these services and their regional issues.

For those who don’t know, my name is Randy McCall, and I’m founder, President and GM of Victim Assistance Online, a 15-year old non-profit organization which provides free information, networking and communication services to the global victim assistance community, as well as being connected with many other victim assistance organizations. Presently VAOnline.org is helping connect more than 500 individuals, agencies and institutions in 23 countries

To help celebrate a milestone in my life, I’m planning on touring North America (both Canada and the United States) to visit some of the many thousands of agencies and individuals who’ve helped make VAOnline.org such a success. In addition to simply visiting, I want to blog on my travels — certainly with photographs, perhaps with video or audio as well – exploring the country as I go, writing it’s sights and attractions, as well as spotlighting victim service and assistance organizations / agencies / institutions, their services and the issues specific to their local or region which are affecting victims of crime.

Not being independently wealthy, I have to plan this on a tight budget. I’m asking agencies interested in having me visit their area for a room (or at least a couch). I’m investigating other resources of course, which is why this is the Planning site for this project.

I’m tracking agencies from which I’ve received invitations through Google Maps, by State and Province (and, in one nice offer I can’t being able to do, another country). You can view the interactive map below:

View Larger Map

Click on a blue balloon to see information on individual stops, or or to see the number organizations which have made an offer of support. As you can see, right now the tour stops appear to be developing into separate East-coast and West-coast tours.