Peace Begins At Home

This afternoon was my first day of training to be a volunteer at the Battered Women's Shelter of Summit County. Today was the first day of a total of six days of training that I have to complete before I can begin volunteering. It may seem like a very long period of time to get trained just to volunteer, but all the volunteers are trained exactly like the staff members that work there too. This is so that the volunteers are prepared to handle all sorts of situations like answering the crisis hot lines, caring for children that have witnessed abuse, talking with the women themselves about the abuse they've endured and many other situations that cannot just be dealt with by people who've come in to volunteer without the proper training. Training is critical in dealing with this organization. To understand the reasons why domestic abuse occurs and why women don't leave the batterers and many other critical questions are all discussed in training. I will learn what is appropriate to talk about and what is not with the women and children. I will learn how to react in certain situations and how to deal with any crisis that I encounter.

Today I learned all about the history of the B.W.S. and their programs that they offer. The first support system that was set up for battered women in Akron, OH was at the Akron Y.M.C.A. In 1980 they opened up the 24-hour crisis hot line and later that year they purchased the Summit County Crisis Center which held 24 emergency beds for women in need of an immediate safe shelter. Then in 1986 a facility was purchased and named Step II for a transitional housing unit for women and children which holds 50 beds. There has been many other additions to the B.W.S. organization, just too many to mention. If you'd like to read more about the history of the B.W.S. please check out their website http://www.scmcbws.org/history.asp.

Some of the programs they offer include: Children Who Witness Violence, Court Advocacy, Family Stability and Support Groups. Children Who Witness Violence deals with children who've witnessed violence at home, at school, in their neighborhood or anywhere else. They are provided with on-going counseling from Akron Children's Hospital. Court Advocacy helps women and men with legal counseling, getting protection orders, attending court hearings and helping them fill out paperwork and answer any questions they may have about their rights. Family Stability offers case management help. They help women get community services, they make sure their homes are safe, they help with finances and provide emotional support. Support Groups are offered to women so that they can talk to other women who've gone through similar situations. They provide ways to get help, different ways to cope, how to handle situations that lead to a crisis and also what the community has to offer.

I learned a lot today. I especially learned not to judge any victim for not leaving a batterer because it is so much more complex than just leaving.

The photograph was taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/trebolazul/.