Reunion Online

On March 7, 2011, colleagues, friends and dignitaries filled a large banquet hall to celebrate the life of the late, First Grade Special Victims Detective C. Lydia Martinez and to honor five recipients of the Lydia Martinez Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration Awards: Volunteer advocate Maegan Corcoran, Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner and Coordinator Glenda Guzman, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center Violence Intervention and Treatment Program Coordinator Deesha Narichania, NYPD Special Victims Detective Richard Ortiz and Queens Assistant District Attorney Eric Rosenbaum.

On a warm January evening, a group of Joyful Heart supporters gathered at a private home in Bel-Air to celebrate the work of the Foundation as well as the birthday of Joyful Heart’s founder and president, Mariska Hargitay.

On December 7, 2010, Joyful Heart co-hosted the New York premiere of “Telling Amy’s Story,” a documentary that chronicles the events leading up to the death of Amy Homan McGee, a mother of two who was shot and killed by her husband.

On a cool fall evening in New York City, Joyful Heart held an intimate conversation about teen dating violence prevention to help raise awareness and inspire increased involvement from our joyful community.

The Joyful Heart Foundation was honored to be a part of the 2010 National Sexual Assault Conference that convened in Los Angeles in early September. The conference is an annual gathering of sexual assault advocates, counselors, prevention activists, policy makers, community organizers, government officials and others that make up the diverse sexual assault movement. This year, over 900 people attended the conference that was organized around the theme "Building the world we want to live in."

As the sun was setting over the Pacific, a lively crowd gathered at Neiman Marcus, event host and underwriting sponsor, for an evening celebrating Joyful Heart's work in Hawai‘i.

On a beautiful, breezy afternoon near the coast of Hawai‘i, over 30 advocates, working in the fields of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, gathered together with the Joyful Heart Foundation to talk about the challenges of working on sexual and family violence, and the possibilities presented when different groups come together in partnership.

In celebration of Michael Stars' first east coast boutique opening in East Hampton, Mariska Hargitay, Founder & President of the Joyful Heart Foundation, along with Hamptons Magazine, hosted an invitation-only shopping event to benefit Joyful Heart on Saturday, July 24.

On July 14, 2010 the Joyful Heart Foundation held a day-long Transforming Trauma program. This day was part our Heal the Healers program which supports professionals working in the field of trauma recovery to reconnect with their spirits and find a path to continue to do the work in a sustainable and life affirming way.

On May 20, 2010, Mariska testified before the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security on the backlog of untested rape kits in this country.