‘In Their Shoes:’ October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and locally, Safe Haven is helping people walk in the shoes of survivors.

Safe Haven’s mission is “to provide safety, space to heal, advocacy, and empowerment for women, children and all survivors of domestic violence,” Executive Director Brittany Robb said.

Their shelter provides a space for about 500 survivors every year. Another 1,500 come through Safe Haven’s Resource Center.

There are two key events Safe Haven is hosting during Domestic Violence Awareness Month:

• Oct. 17: Safe Haven Social House at Bent Paddle
• Oct. 24: Immersive survivor experience at Zeitgeist

“In Their Shoes” is the theme, Safe Haven Community Engagement Coordinator Jaci Christiansen said.

“Members of the community can come in and just kind of take the moment to kind of walk through the shoes of survivors,” Christiansen said. “And so giving community members kind of a different lens on what survivors are experiencing, but then also to kind of get that lens on what Safe Haven services are and kind of get a little bit more of an immersive experience of that.”

She says it’s important to have an awareness month because it’s hard to know who may be experiencing domestic violence.

“You don’t know who in your community, who in your family, who in your neighborhood, who … down the pew from you has experienced these things,” Christiansen said. “So to have an awareness month to give people the skills to be able to help those individuals, but then also to let people know that they’re not alone. That there’s hope out there, that there’s support out there, and that there’s people here to help them.”

The month is also about recognizing survivors.

“We see so many people come through our programs every year who are just incredible and living their best lives,” Robb said. “We’re so proud of them and so proud to be part of their journey and really want to recognize and lift them up too.”