SAFE highlights rising need during Domestic Violence Awareness Month
As purple lights shine along Queen Street this October, Lenoir County commissioners and local advocates are calling attention to domestic violence — and to the growing demand for help amid shrinking funding.
The Board of Commissioners on Monday proclaimed October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and honored the work of SAFE (Safety from Abuse and Family Education), which serves Lenoir and Greene counties.
Reading from the proclamation, Commissioner Preston Harris noted that more than one-third of North Carolina women and nearly one-third of men experience domestic violence in their lifetimes.
SAFE Executive Director Erin Passailaigue said her team answered more than 1,400 crisis calls last year and provided nearly 3,000 nights of emergency shelter to adults and children fleeing abuse.
“Behind each of these numbers is a person — someone who found the courage to leave, a child who now sleeps safely at night, a survivor who learned to rebuild their life,” Passailaigue said.
She warned commissioners that state and federal funding cuts could reach 60 percent, even as calls for help continue to rise.
“Like many rural agencies across North Carolina, we’re facing cuts of up to 60 percent in state and federal grants, not to mention our federal grants that have been frozen,” she said. “Still, SAFE staff continue to show up every day, often after hours, to ensure that no survivor is turned away.”
SAFE will host a Domestic Violence Training Luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 30, focusing on community coordination and workplace support for survivors.
“October is a time to remember those we’ve lost, honor those who have survived and recommit ourselves to ending violence that affects families across every neighborhood and background,” Passailaigue said.
Residents in need of help can call SAFE’s 24-hour crisis hotline at 252-523-5573.
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