With October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the DOVE Center in St. George, Utah is educating locals on how to aid survivors of domestic abuse and offering center resources to survivors.
The DOVE Center provides shelter, counseling and support groups for victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, rape, stalking, dating violence and sex trafficking.
This month, the shelter is holding a fundraiser to build awareness for their domestic violence victim advocacy and financial empowerment programs.
Executive Director of the DOVE Center, Lindsey Boyer said it’s important to break stereotypes about domestic abuse in order for victims to heal properly.
“Having an openness to the possibility that these issues happen, that they’re not just these fabricated stories that you saw on the Lifetime channel," Boyer said. "And I’m here to tell you the painful reality; they are true.”
The DOVE Center offers a 24-hour helpline that victims, friends and family can call at any time to seek information or help. Boyer said, you don’t have to be in the middle of a crisis to call the helpline-- it is a resource for anyone to use.
The DOVE Center offers many services to help survivors get back on their feet after dealing with a toxic relationship-- including group therapy, counseling, a financial empowerment class, a crisis shelter, transitional housing, financial assistance and more.
“Along the way, the goal is for healing to occur, so it’s not just ‘white-knuckling’ through it, so that when they transition out of services they’re still kind of in that same trauma, shocked state of, you know, ‘now what?’ There’s an important element of healing that really needs to occur,” Boyer said.
The money raised in the DOVE Center fundraiser will be used to provide resources to keep victims of domestic abuse safe and financially independent.
