Saving Grace: Central Oregon’s Resource for Domestic Violence
Call the Saving Grace helpline anytime at 541-389-7021
Nationally, there is a full month dedicated to educating and bringing awareness to communities about domestic violence issues. All communities face domestic violence challenges and are deserving of support. This type of violence makes its mark on various types of intimate relationships and reverberates throughout households. It puts power in the hands of the abuser whilst instilling fear and hopelessness into the minds and hearts of the abused. These negative thoughts and emotions can overshadow a person’s ability to self-regulate and see themselves as a valuable and loved member of their community. Let’s band together and work towards creating safer more loving communities for all people and redistribute power so that it no longer lies in the hands of a few. This month lets pay special attention to making our homes, our schools, and entire communities safer for children and safer for domestic violence survivors to grow and heal. How can we invite love in and focus on the attainment and proliferation of healthy relationships? Well, the good news is, there are many ways of answering this question and none of us should have to answer it alone.
Central Oregon is home to Saving Grace—a local organization offering healing and hope to survivors of domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault (SA) and a valued community partner of KIDS Center. Saving Grace highlights the prevalence of DV and SA as affecting 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men. Saving Grace receives approximately 3,000 helpline calls per year, and due to the isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, people reaching out to Saving Grace for services are reporting a higher level of severity and frequency. This type of isolation is giving more opportunity to abusers seeking this level of control. Trish Meyers, assistant executive director at Saving Grace, says “intimate partner violence, like child abuse, is often hidden from our friends and family members.” So, it is important that we lend a listening ear to loved ones going through this form of abuse and let them know they don’t deserve what is happening to them and that you are there for them by connecting them to resources, and in some cases making the call to Saving Grace with them.
Witnessing domestic violence can shape children as they grow into adults. The mental and emotional harm can be as high for children that witness domestic violence as it is for the survivors of such violence. Saving Grace reminds us of the importance of organizations to open the doors to each other to provide as much collaboration as possible and that prevention is a community wide endeavor across organization lines. As we consider the health of our communities, thinking about the health of our children is key because one day they will take our place as leaders. We hope to provide homes -free from violence- that are strengthened with tools to cultivate a child’s natural ability to care for others.
Valuable resources about various types of domestic violence and many other topics for both adults and youth are linked to this page, just click here and here. If you or someone you know needs help or even just a little encouragement, please reach out to the Saving Grace helpline anytime at 541-389-7021.
They matter, and so do you.
