by Lauren Montanaro, Community Engagement Specialist, and Molly Pistrang, Youth Education Specialist You would think that two Preventionists, two educators who talk to people about abusive and healthy relationships for their jobs, would be completely comfortable talking to their legislators. You’d be wrong. This year was the first time either of us attended Jane Doe Inc.‘s annual Day of Action (a statewide day of legislative advocacy around…
“I am afraid.” “I am worried about my kids.” “I feel like I am walking on eggshells.” “What if, by trying to get help, I make things worse?” As advocates for survivors of domestic violence, we hear words like these often. Survivors live with pervasive fear at home. But now, many of these survivors are afraid of something else: the world outside their homes. In our…
By Colleen Armstrong, PEAR (Prevention, Education, Advocacy and Response) Program Coordinator at Salem State University and former Education Program Manager at REACH. Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass health care legislation designed to roll back many facets of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) and implement a new system, the American Health Care Act (AHCA). This latest version of the bill allows…
This July marks the five year anniversary of Lauren Dunne Astley’s death. Many of you may remember hearing about Lauren’s murder by her ex-boyfriend only a month after they both graduated from Wayland high school. Some of you, like myself, may not have been lucky enough to know Lauren personally. While her death became a national story, Lauren is so much more than how she died….
The Supreme Court deadlocked last Thursday on a challenge to President Obama’s programs to keep millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation. The 4-4 split on the court upholds a lower court ruling that halted Obama’s November 2014 effort to allow these immigrants to live and work in the United States legally. The Supreme Court’s tie effectively ended two immigration programs Obama created in November 2014 after…
In the wake of the shooting in Orlando last weekend, I have seen many calls for system reform and legislative change. I personally appreciate the desire for continued measures to protect the LGBQ/T community from harm (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and/or transgender). Hate crimes – defined by the FBI as a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an…
…And What We Can Do About It Since first reading the victim impact statement written by the survivor of the Stanford Rape Case late on Friday night, I have been inundated with emails, calls, and conversations from friends, family, and colleagues about this story. I have rarely seen a story about sexual assault that doesn’t involve a celebrity capture the attention of the public the way…
We’d like to let you know about some legislation that’s making its way through the Massachusetts legislature with potentially harmful repercussions for children whose parents have experienced domestic violence. Currently, the legal standard for custody arrangements being decided in probate court is what’s in the best interest of the child. Makes sense, right? However, there is a movement afoot to change that standard, so that it…
This week’s blog post is by Deborah Heimel, REACH’s Director of Operations who coordinates our Holiday Gift Program.
This October it felt like I was everywhere. From coffee shops, to high school auditoriums, college dorms, living rooms, and everywhere in between, I had the honor of getting to speak to hundreds of people about a very important issue- domestic violence. I was impressed time and time again by how many people came out to events this year; not only is October a busy time…
