Domestic violence: You cared all year

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Smiling young woman holds several Domestic Violence Action Month yard signs upside down, by the stakes.
Jessica Fernandez was one of seven Walla Walla University students distributing signs, stories, and chalk messages downtown on October 19.

Domestic Violence Action Month promotes awareness for one month, but your support keeps the fight against DV happening for the other 11. Thank you!

Whether you read a book like No Visible Bruises, saw our displays, attended the vigil, or posted a yard sign, we hope that October helped you learn more about DV and the harm it does.

We had small but enthusiastic groups attend our book club/soup suppers and were grateful for this time to share.

Thank you to the university students who helped transform downtown (pictured, right and below).

Earlier in the month, another group helped a client clean, paint, and repair her new house.

Two women lean together while standing on a sidewalk that is covered in bright messages.
Executive Director Anne-Marie Zell Schwerin and YWCA Board Secretary Sandy Garcia grabbed a hug by the positive chalk art messages from Walla Walla University students and the YWCA.

Wild Willow and Safeway Floral helped us bring beauty to the sad narratives with buckets of blossoms, and St. Vincent de Paul made the stories more tangible with donated shoes that wouldn’t be sold.

Pastor Paul and Mary Eaves Mitchell made sure that the rain- soaked stories, shoes, and flowers were disposed of properly after five days on the walks.

“Several people,” he said, “stopped to say how meaningful and powerful the displays were.”

Young woman in red jacket stands by chalk art in downtown plaza holding a box in one hand and making a peace sign with the other.
W2U student Melody Murillo takes a break from chalk art to flash a peace sign at Land Title Plaza, site of a YWCA vigil remembering the 33 Washington State lives lost to domestic violence in 2021.
Wild Willow and Plaza Safeway Floral donated flowers to honor the victims,
Young woman squats on sidewalk by two pairs of shoes representing domestic violence victims.
Junior social work student Sadie Steffen placed narratives and shoe displays downtown, including this one for Dora and her daughter Lupe, both killed by Dora’s boyfriend. Our community, said Sadie, “needs to be reminded of the true severity and crime of DV” and honor the victims.