New
DAWNING for
domestic
violence awareness activities
Dear Neighbor,
October is Domestic
Violence Awareness month. According to the Center for Disease
Control, one in three women are victims of domestic violence in their lifetimes.
While the number of male victims is lower, it is not insignificant. 23,000
children in King County witness domestic violence at home annually.
Of those, 60% are victims. Hundreds of incidents of domestic violence
occur on Vashon – Maury Island every year. Most of these events go
unreported. We all remember the tragic death of Shawna which occurred
two years ago. The community came together in sorrow and shame.
At the request
of the Vashon-Maury community, and the demonstrated need to serve victims
of domestic violence on our islands, the Domestic
Abuse Women’s Network (DAWN) will be providing direct client services
to those in need in our community. These services will be administered
in Vashon from a confidential office location by a trained advocate. This
position is being funded in part by King County. Island services include:
one-on-one advocacy, support groups (with child cared provided), safety
planning, legal advocacy, court accompaniment, and identifying and accessing
community resources.
In addition
to the services that will be available to these clients on island, the
entire community is able to access DAWN’s resource and crisis line staffed
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All clients can use DAWN’s legal services,
Latina programs, children’s programming, emergency confidential shelter
and transitional housing programs.
To enhance these
efforts and to promote community understanding of this problem, several
islanders formed a group called Books in Action. We have organized
two events to raise awareness and funds to supplement the direct services
provided by DAWN to victims of domestic violence and their children on
Vashon.
-
Vashon
Reads. Facilitators will lead discussions of three different
books about domestic violence on October 10th, 18th and 25th at 7:00 p.m.
-
Book
sale. Books In Action is sponsoring an island wide book sale on
October 28th in the Firefighters’ Association Hall.
More
details about the
Vashon
Reads discussion groups and the Book Sale.
If you are unable
to join us, yet want to support
DAWN, please send your tax deductible contribution to DAWN, PO
Box 88007, Tukwila, WA, 98138. Please be sure to mention “Vashon services”
on your check. If you have any questions, please feel free to call the
individuals at the bottom of this page.
Sincerely,
Nan Joy,
463-6569
Paula Madsen,
463-3707
Co-chairs,
Books in Action Project
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We
would like
to hear
from you.
Books In Action Project
Nan Joy,
463-6569
Paula Madsen,
463-3707
Co-chairs,
Books in Action Project
contact@booksinaction.org
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