He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and He preserves the way of His godly ones.— PROVERBS 2:7-8
At a recent meeting, I was asked to create a pie chart showing how we divide our time between providing services directly to domestic violence victims and delivering prevention and education services. Then I was asked to create a pie chart showing what we wanted the proportion to be in 15 years. My dream is that our prevention and education efforts become so successful, allowing that piece of the pie to grow as demand for services to victims shrinks. What would that take? What new programs and services are needed? Which existing programs should we expand? What resources do we need to gather?
The answers kept coming back to you and the many others in our community who support the work of Sheltering Wings. The only way we can increase awareness of domestic violence and reduce the number of victims is for people like you to step up and help us. How? There are so many ways. You can invite us to your workplace to educate managers about the warning signs and what to do when they see them. You can host us at your next neighborhood association meeting, because neighbors who look out for each other make communities safer. You can educate your fellow church members and join together to make it clear that your church will fight abuse and support victims. You can teach your kids about healthy relationships and effective forms of conflict resolution (and model those behaviors in your own relationships). You can encourage and support friends and family to choose to treat themselves and others with respect.
Yes, you really can make a difference. If each person reading these words stepped up and did just one thing I’ve mentioned here, together we’d dramatically strengthen awareness and reduce the power abusers have over their victims. There’s so much to do, but if each of us agrees to do part of it, we truly can achieve big things. And maybe someday, we’ll be able to eliminate the need for our services.
