Help Families Find Safety: Support Project Safe This Sunday

I received a copy of the empowering classic Our Bodies Ourselves for my eighteenth birthday and was forever changed by much of what I read. Some of the information affirmed what I already knew to be true and some was news to me, such as the fact that "Approximately 50% of the homeless women and children in this country are on the streets because of violence in their homes." I was shocked- but this is a reality for many people. If you're like me, you find this reality to be unacceptable.

Domestic violence can happen to anyone- but many factors combine to put some of us at greater risk than others. My previous employer, Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence, in Boulder, Colorado, does a great job of explaining how various forms and systems of oppression combine to perpetuate injustice against society's more vulnerable members, such as women and children (check out SPAN's community offerings here).

According to the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, women continue to account for 97% of domestic violence survivors, many of whom end up on the streets. This isn't a coincidence- and it will take time for us all to help change the fabric of society for the better- but there are immediate things we can do, as well.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness points out the need for immediate "safe housing away from the abuser," as well as "access to safe, stable, affordable housing" for the future. Project Safe provides both emergency confidential shelter and transitional housing for women and children seeking safety.

You can help women and children right here at home escape domestic violence by attending Project Safe's biggest fundraiser of the year this Sunday: Dancing with the Athens Stars. Buy your tickets online or at the Class Center box office. Read my previous post to find out what the fun event is all about. Violence against women and children effects us all- and we can all help end it!