blogger profile

Chris Kuhn

Editor, skirt! Tampa Bay

I'm an outspoken thirtysomething who has lived in the Tampa Bay area since 1992, full of useless facts on just about every facet of pop culture. I'm passionate about vegetarianism without passing judgment. I love to laugh. If we can't talk politics, music, movies, sports, TV or current events, you'...

READ MORE

You Oughta Know About...Dawn Center

Chris Kuhn, Editor for skirt! Tampa Bay

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a fundraiser luncheon for Dawn Center, a domestic abuse shelter in Hernando County. skirt! Tampa Bay recently began distributing copies of our magazine monthly to the shelter at the organization’s request after its Executive Director Debbie Andrews expressed interest in getting our publication into the hands of women staying there. We were absolutely honored that our magazine was being viewed as a tool for empowering women and were happy to oblige.

The luncheon, held at the Palace Grand in Spring Hill, gave attendees a sneak peek at the shelter’s upcoming community education campaign “A New Dawn, A New Day” and the opportunity to hear from a representative from the Florida Coaltion Against Domestic Violence. The event opened with a proclamation of October as Domestic Abuse Awareness month in Hernando County and attendees could purchase domestic abuse clothespin pins as another means to donate to the organization. Shirts from children staying at the shelter also were on display as well as artwork from area students.

We hear the statistics in news reports but it just sounds like numbers until you really stop to absorb what they represent.

Every 15 seconds a woman is battered in the United States.

Every 15 seconds. It seems unimaginable.

But the real highlight came in the form of heartfelt, tearful testimonials from three women, all assisted by the Dawn Center shelter and each at different phases of their lives following their personal experiences with domestic abuse.

We met Laura who shared her story of being victimized and driven to tears in an abusive relationship, and how the Dawn Center has led her on an awesome journey step by step to rebuild as she comes upon her one-year anniversary since arriving at the Center. She said she now sees herself as a victor, and no longer a victim.

We also heard from Barbara, who said she was from your average middle class family, a preacher’s daughter who fell in love with the boy her parents didn’t want her to date – the bad boy. Finally, they gave in and she eventually married him. She noted at the luncheon that if you look closely at her wedding photos, you can see bruises on her that she got the night before but she didn’t have the heart to tell her parents to call off the wedding the day before the event. Years later, after giving birth to two children throughout a constant abusive environment and being beaten so seriously she was bedridden during one of her pregnancies, she said that she made the decision one night that he police arrived that she would remove herself and her children from their living situation. With the love, support and encouragement of family, she found her way to Dawn Center who helped her get on her feet. Twenty-three years later, her son is a staff sergeant in the US Air Force, her daughter is a recent education graduate from FSU, and she herself has just graduated Pre-Law from FSU with plans to become a lawyer. A remarkable lady and an even more remarkable story that left most of us in the audience checking our spoon reflections for mascara streams.

Finally, Mary Beth walked up to the podium – after handing her infant daughter that had accompanied her to a family member in attendance. Mary Beth was relatively new to Dawn Center but already had begun working with the staff to learn more about healthy relationships and starting a new life for her and her young daughter. She acknowledged that she had a long journey ahead of her but that hearing stories from other survivors like Barbara and Laura gave her the confidence and strength to forge ahead.

We attend many events and learn the important services offered by so many worthwhile organizations in the Bay area. But for me, last week’s event really put faces and stories behind the statistics behind domestic abuse.

I urge every woman in the Bay area, whether you’ve personally been in an abusive relationship, know of anyone close to you who has or may have little personal knowledge on the subject to learn more and find out how you can support organizations like Dawn Center, CASA of St. Pete and The Spring of Tampa Bay, organizations such as these who are helping women learn how to empower themselves and reclaim their lives.

Here are some important links worth checking out – wish lists for each of these groups. Whether you live in Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas or Hillsborough, do what you can to make a difference. Change another woman’s life. It’s easier than you might think and it starts with one simple step taken...by you.

WISH LISTS
Dawn Center
CASA St. Pete
The Spring of Tampa Bay