Sep. 30—PRINCETON — October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so local agencies are coming together Monday, Oct. 2 for a Stop Domestic Violence Awareness event for the public.
The free event begins at 10 a.m. and continues until 1 p.m. at the Karen Preservati Center at 704 Maple Street in Princeton. It is next door to the Princeton Rescue Squad. There will be free food and drinks as well as guest speakers, and the public is welcome. Local organizations addressing domestic violence and related issues will be on hand to provide information as well as vendors.
Domestic violence advocate Kim Testerman, who works with advocates Lora Justice and Susie Reed, said Friday that Judge Lisa Clark with Mercer County Family Court will be a guest speaker.
Mercer County has one of West Virginia’s highest rates of domestic violence cases.
“We’ve got statistics for Mercer County,” Testerman said. “We try to cover magistrate court, family court and then DHHR and circuit court. So far this year from January to now, we have had 476 clients that have filed DVP (domestic violence petitions) and we have gone to court with them. And also have 594 clients that we’ve referred to legal aid, Southern Highlands, so we do a lot of referring for our clients so we make sure they get what they need.”
One goal of Monday’s event is to let victims of domestic violence know about that services which could help them.
“We’re here. We want them to know we’re here to help them with it. Our shelter is in McDowell County. Mercer County does not have a shelter. We do the transports, Lora and I do, to the shelter,” Testerman said. “Most of the time when we do take someone, a victim, they leave with nothing and the shelter does supply all their needs there and they can stay up to two years at the shelter in McDowell County.”
This year’s theme for Domestic Violence Awareness Month is “Everyone Knows Someone.” A victim of domestic can be a family member, a coworker or a member of a church’s congregation.
“As high as the domestic violence rate is in Mercer County, we all know somebody who’s went through it and we just want to make sure that Mercer County knows there are advocates here, we go with them go court, we do the referring and try to meet all their needs that we can.”
Testerman said that she and the other advocates wanted to thank the Princeton Rescue Squad for the use of the Karen Preservati Center.
— Contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
Contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
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