Northland Family Help Center working to end domestic violence
<i>Pat Carr</i><br> From left to right: Radmilla Cody, board member of the Northland Family Help Center; Devonna McLaughlin, Executive Director of Both Hands, Inc.; and Sonya Burkhalater, Executive Director of Northland Family Help Center coordinated the “Walk for Change” in Flagstaff’s Wheeler Park to raise funds and garner support for eliminating domestic violence.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Employees in the Northland Family Help Center (NFHC) are trying to work themselves out of a job but it is not easy. For over 30 years the center has provided advocacy, prevention education, counseling and shelter for the victims of domestic violence and abuse. These services are provided through the coordination of five free programs: a Woman's Shelter, a Children's Shelter, Legal Advocacy, Counseling, and Community Education.
In l989 Congress passed the law designating October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. While activities conducted across the nation during the month are diverse and varied, they do tend to center around common themes, including mourning those who have died because of domestic violence, celebrating those who have survived, and connecting those who work to end the violence.
This year the NFHC spent the month working with local Flagstaff bars to educate employees and make them aware of ways to prevent problems associated with alcohol and sexual violence. The program is called Bartenders Against Rape and Sexism (BARS).
They also coordinated a Walk for Change in downtown Flagstaff to raise funds for the NFHC and create an awareness of problems associated with domestic violence.
Last year NFHC received 2,041 crisis calls, reported Allie Morgan, an administrative specialist with the center, adding, "We also provided 6,649 bed nights in the women's shelter and 1,578 in the youth shelter. About 36 percent of the adult women who entered our shelter are Native Americans."
"We are grateful for the support we receive from communities across northern Arizona," Morgan explained. "We envision a community where everyone can live in safety, where all forms of violence have been eradicated, and where healthy families and individuals serve as the foundation of a vibrant and productive community."
"We all look forward to when there is no longer a need for our services," Morgan concluded.
Additional information on the NFHC can be found at www.northlandfamily.org and an emergency hotline is
available 24/7 at 1-877-634-2723.
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