KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, comes to a close, two Kansas City-based organizations are empowering survivors.
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Newhouse KC and Floraloom, a creative flower studio specializing in installations and arrangements, partnered this week to teach a floral wreath design class.
Floraloom owner Colleen Robertson said she finds sharing the art of flower design is healing.
“You really have to be present, you have to be thoughtful and you have to stop for a moment,” she said. “If they feel safe and they feel at ease, then they feel empowered.”
Robertson works with Newhouse residents to make arrangements for Floraloom events. Some of the wreaths created Monday will be auctioned at a gala Newhouse, which is KC's first and oldest domestic violence shelter, is hosting to raise money and awareness.
“We are located in the urban core of Kansas City, within a 3.5-mile radius of where 85% of the violent crime prosecuted in Jackson County occurs, so we know we are right where our community needs us most,” said Newhouse KC president and CEO Courtney Thomas.
As an 88-bed emergency shelter for people fleeing domestic violence, Thomas said Newhouse provides adult therapists on-site, children’s therapists, recovery counselors, case managers, an on-site attorney, two court advocates and a paralegal for all survivors.
The fully staffed 24/7 shelter also offers an early learning center and after-school care and tutoring for older children.
“This work has always been important to me. I’m a childhood survivor of domestic violence, so it’s personal," Thomas said. "I do this work because I am this work. What has happened in your past does not define who you are or what you can achieve in your future.”
Art therapy, mindfulness, movement and classes, like floral wreath-making, help survivors express themselves. Thomas said such opportunities are aided by the generosity of donations and volunteers, which the shelter is always accepting.
“Our ability to say yes could very much save a person’s life today,” she said.
Data from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports one in four women and one in 10 men experience sexual violence, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
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