Welcome to my Hot Chocolate Run For Safe Passage page. I am proud to write that this is my 3rd year walking and my first year co-captaining for the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence team. My co-captain Ruth Banta and I are so proud of the effort our team is putting into raising money for this amazing organization. We can’t wait for December 7th.
Every year I think a lot about why this event and raising this money is so important to me. I think about my friends and family members that I know have been in an abusive relationship, and I think about how I know that right now, someone I care about may be in an abusive situation and I don’t know about it. But the person I think about the most is my grandmother.
When my grandmother was a young woman she was in an extremely abusive relationship. The details are vague. What I do know is that her first husband is the reason she lived her adult life with a severely disfigured face. He did serve some jail time and she did go back to him. But eventually she fled. Across the country with a toddler in tow, met my grandfather and started a new life and a new family. I think about how severe the social stigma was for her that she couldn’t stay in her own community. How there was no Safe Passage for her then. There was likely no crisis counseling, no specially trained lawyers, no 24 hour hotline, and no community support.
So that’s why raising this money is so important to me. I want Safe Passage to be able to help every single person who needs support to leave an abusive relationship. I want to be part of a community that rallies around its survivors and tells them that they are worth it, they are important to us, and we want them to have the best of the best to help them come out the other side.
Please take a minute to think about the work Safe Passage does and how it helped or could have helped someone you know. And then donate. To me, Rhys (https://www.pledgereg.com/66536 ), Team USNF, or someone else you know who is registered for this event.
Here are some ways Safe Passage will put your gift to work:
$30: Resources, support and hope for a woman calling the 24-hour hotline
$55: A survivor's first counseling session. For many of Safe Passage's clients, this is the first time they've felt heard. It's the first time in years that they've felt hopeful.
$120: A drop-in support group session for survivors of domestic violence
$225: Information, advice and support for a survivor facing a divorce or custody dispute
$500: Healing counseling for a child who has witnessed violence
Thank you so much for visiting my page and supporting this wonderful organization.
Love, Stacia
Hot Chocolate Run 2014: Step Up for Safe Passage!
Every day, Safe Passage helps women and children take steps towards a brighter and safer future. Some of these steps are easier, and some are harder. Every step is important.
Take a step towards helping families affected by domestic violence. Make a donation to a participant who is
Stepping Up for Safe Passage!
Safe Passage is the organization in Hampshire County building safety, hope and justice for families who have lived with domestic violence. Adults and kids come to Safe Passage for a variety of programs: an emergency shelter, counseling and support groups, legal advocacy, and so much more. We also work to prevent domestic violence before it happens through our community engagement programs. We hope you'll join us in our work by making a donation! Learn more at our
website.