During the month of October, the YWCA will help spread hope, health and healing throughout the central Alabama community by recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic Violence knows no social boundaries or class distinction. It affects thousands of women and families each year. In fact, Alabama is now ranked second in the nation in the rate of women killed by men. Domestic violence is one of the most misunderstood crimes in our state and often one of the least obvious.
Throughout October, the YW’s downtown lobby will be home to The Clothesline Project, a vehicle for women and children affected by domestic violence to express their emotions by decorating a t-shirt. The Clothesline Project puts a human face on the statistics of violence against women and provides an opportunity for women to bear witness to their personal experience of violence and transformation.
The Silent Witnesses, located in the downtown lobby and in the courthouse in St. Clair county, will also be used to raise awareness about domestic violence homicides in central Alabama that have taken place in the last year. Each red silhouette represents an individual or family member who has died as a result of domestic violence. These haunting wooden cutouts will pay respect to the four women who lose their lives each day as a result of domestic violence.
The Healthy Relationships curriculum will also begin in schools this month. As a part of the program, we will unveil “The Price of Love” video featuring YWCA staff member and former Birmingham Chief of Police Annetta Nunn. The video, sponsored by Verizon, contains the YWCA version of the popular hit song “Bust your Windows” by Jazmine Sullivan. Designed to make comprehensive domestic violence information available to youth, the video was produced by the renowned arranger and producer Dr. Henry Panion and directed by Brandon (B) Mason. Click here to view the video.
After last year’s successful “TweetUp” event, the YWCA is partnering with the Allstate Foundation again this year for the “Purple Purse Campaign.” This year’s campaign is centered on passing ten purple purses around Central Alabama and having each person that receives it register it at PurplePurse.com using the login number on the inside tag of the purse. Every time the purple purse is registered, Allstate will donate $10.00 to our YWCA – up to $10,000 again this year! For more information about the Purple Purse campaign or on how to get involved, contact Megann Cain at 322-9922 ext. 304 or via email at mcain@ywcabham.org or click here.
The YWCA constantly works toward our mission of empowering women by providing safe emergency shelter for women and children fleeing abusive homes, court advocacy and legal services to women in abusive situations, and by maintaining a 24-hour crisis line, (205) 322-4878 or 1-800-650-6522, answered by staff and volunteers trained in crisis intervention.
If you would like to support the mission of the YWCA by donating to our domestic violence programs, please click here.