Hello everyone!
I will be writing a few blogs in the month of October for Domestic Violence Awareness. I may also share some old blogs with you for those who are new to reading my blogs, website and social media pages. Stay connected!
Purple is the color for this month and I do love purple! Purple stands for royalty and ladies and gentlemen, those of you who have endured abuse of any kind at someone else's hand are royalty worthy of so much more - you just did not know it before now. I wore purple yesterday for the first day of this important month. Please wear purple as much as you can this month to show your support for the survivors and family members of those you have lived with domestic violence.
I know many of you may want to do more than wear a certain color. You can also get involved in supporting survivors by supporting the very organizations that work to get them the tools, education, and support they need to stay safe and heal. One such organization is Break the Silence Against Domestic Violence. This is a national organization who helps survivors and children in many important ways from adopting children for Christmas to survivor retreats and grants to help men and women finish or start school. I support this organization monthly and plan to do their Angel program this Christmas to be sure a child of a domestic violence survivor has a Christmas. If you would like to know more about this organization, please go to https://www.breakthesilencedv.org/ and check out all they have to offer for survivors and their families.
For those of you in Oklahoma, another great organization to support that will also allow you to help survivors of human trafficking (who also experience domestic violence and abuse of and and all kinds) is the Dragonfly Home. The Dragonfly Home offers services and counceling to all human trafficking survivors who come through their doors. They also assist survivors in court and with other legal matters. They will be opening a small shelter in the OKC area very soon. I also support and volunteer for this organization and have received much valued training on what survivors go through on a daily basis when they are being trafficked. We are blessed to have The Dragonfly Home in Oklahoma! If you would like to know more about this organization, please go to http://www.thedragonflyhome.org/
A national source for anti-human trafficking and education is the National Human Trafficking Hotline. You can find them at https://humantraffickinghotline.org
An internaltional source for anti-human trafficking work, education, and support for survivors is the A21 Campaign. Please go to www.a21.org, an excellent organization I support as wellg!
One of the most important things you can do this month or any month, is listen and be available to survivors. They need listening ears and caring hearts. They need to know they are loved and not judged. They need to know you are in their corner. A listening ear and a caring heart can do wonders for someone who may have never known this kind of treatment or who has been isolated for a long time from friends and family as abusers often do to their victims. Be that person who reaches out and gives hope to someone who feels they have no other choices and no hope! Help them choose freedom!
I hope I have encouraged and inspired many of you reading this to get involved and to help these survivors break their silence and begin their healing journey. We reach them one by one, one life and one heart at a time! Who can you reach out to today? Get involved! You will be glad you did and you will never be the same!
Until next time,
Elizabeth