The Washington County Board of Supervisors heard a presentation and proclamation naming October Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Director of Community Engagement for DVIP/RVAP Alta Medea shared information on the resources that they offered to Washington County over the last year, “I just wanted to share a little bit, I gave you all some facts and stats of information about the last year. So we actually served 111 victim survivors of domestic violence. We took on sexual assault services on October 1st (of last year), so that anniversary is coming up and we served nine individuals who had experienced sexual assault in that last year.”
Domestic Violence Awareness Month began in 1987, with Congress officially designating October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in 1989. DVIP/RVAP will be hosting a Shop for Safety event in Washington on October 8th from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. This event is where shoppers can purchase items at HyVee or Fareway that will be donated to area shelters for individuals escaping domestic violence. They are hoping to collect nearly 9 months worth of goods for victim-survivors with the support of the community. More information on this event can be found with the link with this news story at KCIIRadio.com.