TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — The entire month of October is recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
People in Buffalo and across the country use the month to advocate and educate for domestic violence prevention.
That continued Thursday night with Child and Family Services Haven House in Tonawanda. The organization held an event to raise awareness and bring together community leaders, advocates and friends. I was there to give a voice to their efforts.
20 t-shirts hung on a clothesline at Tonawanda's Tribute Park, a visual display of violence that can often go ignored. The shirts were made by the youngest members of our community.
"The t-shirts made by children were particularly moving. One of the t-shirts said 'Every voice counts. Even the smallest voices," Erie County Deputy County Executive Lisa Chimera said.
Child and Family Services hopes to continue the dialogue about domestic violence in the community and raise awareness of it during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
"Unfortunately, one in four women, one in seven men and for our young women, between the ages of 18 and 24-- it's one in three will have experienced some form of domestic violence during their lifetime," Child and Family Services Victim Services Director Tiffany Provone said.
That statistic is the harsh reality that domestic violence can unfortunately reach anyone.
"Domestic violence knows no bounds," Provone said. "The statistics affect everyone no matter what zip code you live in, what level of education you have, your level of socioeconomic status, your race, your ethnicity."
There are also efforts to bridge the gap between Black and brown communities and resources to help victims.
Bury the Violence founder Kareema Morris told me this topic is personal.
"I am actually a graduate of the Haven House," Morris said. "Me and my three children lived in the shelter and that's how we have lived experience to do what we do and know what was provided, needed and necessary and mandatory in order to graduate from the shelter."
Morris told me she experienced so many different layers of abuse and she did not realize how much she encountered until she stayed at Haven House.
"Living at the Haven House positively impacted my life because it taught me what I would have never had the idea or understanding of about domestic violence," Morris said. "Understanding that domestic violence wasn't just physical. It was spiritual, financial, emotional, social."
Together, these women are hoping to get their message to victims who are still in the grips of violence and struggling to leave.
"They need help with safety planning, they need help with housing, they need help with figuring out who is going to watch their children when they have to keep going to repeated court appearances," Erie County DA's Office Special Victims Chief Lynette Reda said.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available.
You can contact the following resources:
- Family Justice Center-Erie County: (716) 558-7233
- Erie County Child and Family Services: (716) 884-6000
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233 or Text BEGIN to 88788
