loveisrespect Blog

On October 30th the Helpline staff and advocates celebrated the candy corny goodness of Halloween with a pumpkin carving contest.  Check these out!

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If you’ve got some old cell phones lying around the house, then you’ve go an easy way help survivors of domestic violence during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Call to Protect provides cell phones to survivors of domestic violence to ensure they have a way to reach help if they’re in danger. The cell phones that don’t go to survivors are refurbished and sold to benefit domestic violence causes.

So round up the extra phones in your house, and visit Call to Protect to find out how to donate. You may find a local drop off spot (like The Body Shop), but if not - you can mail them in. There’s also info on erasing your personal data from the phone before sending it off. And hey, it’s a great cause, but if you didn’t pay for the phone - check before donating.

October is here. If you’re still looking for a way to get involved in Domestic Violence Awareness Month, consider adopting a local domestic violence shelter. Here’s how -

Contact your local domestic violence shelter (we can help you find it - just give us a call/chat). Ask what sort of donations they can use. Get some friends together (or do this as a class, club, etc.) and collect the items the shelter needs. Some examples of things a shelter might need are blankets, toiletries, clothing (for adults and kids), or cash.  But be sure to call and talk to someone first - some shelters have limited storage space (if you show up with a truckload of dental floss, they probably won’t have a place to keep it.)

Let people know about your project and start collecting. Collect items for a week, or continue to collect during all of October. You can ask teachers to set up drop boxes in their classrooms, set up a table during lunches to collect items, or even go door to door in your neighborhood. Then deliver your donations to the shelter at the end of the month.

If you decide to try this or any other activity to commemorate DVAM, please let us know. We’d love to hear about it.

Austin people, we’ve got a new volunteer class starting in October. If you’re interested in becoming a Peer Advocate, answering calls and chats from teens across the country, please contact us. Training covers topics like crisis intervention, safety planning, healthy relationships, etc. We do lots of practice calls/chats with our new volunteers. And there’s always someone around to help. We promise.

Email us. We’ll tell you more.

*To ensure confidentiality for our callers and chatters, peer advocates have to work from our Austin office. If you don’t live in Austin and you’re looking for volunteer opportunities, give us a call. A Peer Advocate can  help you find something in your area.

October is just around the corner, especially if you’re planning events for Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). Though teen dating abuse has it’s own awareness week in February, obviously the issue of teen dating abuse and domestic violence overlap. Teens are involved in abusive relationships. They have friends that are involved in abusive relationships. They also live in homes with domestic violence.   

Teens should be recognized and involved during DVAM. During the month of October, we’ll be on the lookout for teens involved in domestic violence awareness events.

If you don’t know what’s being planned for DVAM in your area or you’d like to get involved, try contacting your local domestic violence program (one of our advocates can help you locate it), your school, or even your state coalition on domestic violence. So far, we’ve seen walks, vigils, benefit art displays, and donation drives on calendars across the country. If there isn’t anything planned in your area - consider doing it yourself. We’ll be featuring some DIY DVAM ideas here during the next few weeks.