LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors approved a proclamation Tuesday designating October 2010 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Lake County.
“The purpose of the Board proclamation is to draw attention to the issue of domestic violence as a community issue,” said Denise Rushing, District 3 Supervisor, after the BOS meeting.
The Lake Family Resource Center, a domestic violence support organization based in Kelseyville, advocated the designation and provided information to the BOS to help the drafting process.
“Every year we ask for a proclamation and our Board has been very excited to do that and declare the month Domestic Violence Awareness Month,” said Rae Eby-Carl, senior deputy director of LFRC.
The BOS has designated October Domestic Violence Awareness Month each of the 12 years the LFRC has existed.
In addition to the designation, the BOS encouraged Lake County citizens to actively support victims of domestic violence.
“Our community is urged to support the effort of the agencies assisting victims of domestic violence and to increase their involvement in efforts to prevent domestic violence, thereby strengthening our community and creating an environment which honors, nurtures and protects all members of every family,” the proclamation stated
According to statistics stated in the proclamation, The Lake County District Attorney”s Office prosecuted 248 acts of domestic violence, including 67 felony acts, in the past 12 months.
Additionally, Lake County law enforcement responded to 500 incidents of domestic violence in 2009.
The LFRC offers services to victims of domestic violence year-round, including a 24-hour Community Crisis Line, support groups, counseling and therapy, Eby-Carl said.
In March, the organization opened a new domestic violence shelter in Kelseyville called the Freedom House Domestic Violence Shelter. The shelter houses up to 32 people and accepts men, women and children who have been victims of domestic violence.
“Victims deserve to be treated well,” Eby-Carl said. “They”ve already been victimized and I think our community has made a stance regarding that: that we”ll take good care of our victims and keep them safe so that they can become survivors.”
The LFRC hosts events throughout October to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The organization hosted its 12th annual Domestic Violence Awareness Candlelight Vigil on Oct. 4.
Eby-Carl said 63 people attended this year”s vigil. “The people who were there I think felt very passionately about ending domestic violence,” she said.
The event”s program included a poem recitation, a song and a keynote speech from an LFRC board member. Those in attendance then lit individual candles and walked in procession around the perimeter of Library Park in Lakeport.
The organization will also host the Clothesline Event on Oct. 29 at noon. Volunteers will decorate T-shirts with words or images about the issue of domestic violence. The shirts will be hung on a line around the LFRC office facility in Kelseyville
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him directly at 263-5636, ext.37.
