Keri McGregor and Joyce Mahoney: Stand up to domestic violence

There’s no other way to put it: When it comes to domestic violence awareness and outreach, we all can do better.

To be sure, we’re proud of the progress we’ve made at Catholic Charities, Diocese of Wichita (CCW), in serving our region’s domestic violence survivors. CCW’s Harbor House and other outreach services, including the SAFE Project, increased the number of domestic violence survivors we serve by 11 percent over the past year. The SAFE Project helps survivors find safety and employment, but we also offer family shelter, relationship classes and a host of other services. And in October we will open a residential housing program called the Mount, which provides people who have stabilized their lives after crisis with further time to transition to permanent housing. In all of these efforts, our community partners are crucial, and we are just one of many strong social services organizations in this community that are making a difference.

But consider this: Our region’s police departments receive an average of 7,500 domestic violence calls every year. Nationally, 20 people per minute are victims of domestic violence, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Domestic violence has proliferated to near-epidemic levels. At CCW, we’re in a position we never want to be in: The demand for our services has run beyond our current capacity.

We want to serve more people and help raise the level of domestic violence awareness in our communities. That’s why CCW is initiating the #PurpleThursdayICT social media campaign during Domestic Violence Awareness Month this October.

The idea behind purple Thursday is simple: On Thursdays throughout October, people can share their purple domestic violence awareness commitment with a photo or promise to act at #PurpleThursdayICT. We’re encouraging businesses and other community organizations to get involved by providing purple stickers or ribbons for employees and patrons, creating a purple product, posting information on domestic violence, or engaging in a number of other activities. Our efforts will be part of a larger movement led by the national No More campaign, the product of a broad coalition of organizations across the country.

Domestic violence thrives when we are silent. But if we take a stand and work together as a community, we can end it.

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Keri McGregor and Joyce Mahoney: Stand up to domestic violence."