Press Release – The ARK Domestic Violence Shelter (The ARK) is inviting the public to take part in this year’s National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Each year October is set aside to honor the victims that have lost their lives to domestic violence, celebrate the progress survivors and advocates have made, and connect with the community to help end domestic violence.
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Throughout October, The ARK will be exhibiting the Empty Shoes Display at local schools, courthouses, medical facilities and public places in the tri-county area. The display honors local victims in Brown, Coleman and Comanche Counties that have lost their lives to domestic violence. The display is a sobering reminder that domestic violence is happening here in our local area. It is a tragedy that each name and pair of shoes represents a mother, sister, friend, and child that were taken by violence at the hands of someone they cared about.
From October 2nd through October 6th, the display can be found at Brownwood, Coleman, Early, and Bangs High Schools. The following week the display will be at BRMC, Coleman County Medical Center, Comanche County Medical Center, Brownwood Public Library, and Premier High School. From October 16th through October 20th, the display will be at the Brown, Coleman, and Comanche County Courthouses, Family Services, and May High School. During the fourth week of October, the display will be at the HPU-Girling Center, TSTC, Ranger College, and DeLeon and Panther Creek High Schools.
On the 26th of October, The ARK will have their annual Candlelight Vigil in the HPU Girling Center at 6:00 pm. The Candlelight Vigil will feature a reading of all the Texas victims’ names that lost their lives in 2016 as well as remembering the twelve victims from the tri-county area of Brown, Coleman, and Comanche. Guest speakers will talk about Domestic Violence in our community and how The ARK and law enforcement is responding to it. The Candlelight Vigil will end with the lighting of candles and a moment of silence to remember the victims.
Each year, over 100 victims in Texas alone are murdered by an intimate partner. October is the month to observe these issues and pledge to end domestic violence in our communities. This month is set aside to remind each of us what we can personally do to help stop the violence.
The ARK, along with local police, court officials, and community agencies, work together to make our communities safer and to end the violence that is happening in too many homes. They are reaching out to the community and asking for help to end this epidemic of violence. For more information about the services that The ARK provides or about National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, please contact The ARK at 325-643-2699. You can also go online to www.arkshelter.org.
