Close to Home community leader initiatives and events

We have a strong and active coalition of community leaders, business owners and activists who are dedicated to Fields Corner, Dorchester, and the community as a whole. Below are some of the initiatives and events that the Stakeholders coalition has been responsible for creating and promoting.

CLOSE TO HOME STAKEHOLDERS COALITION
The Close to Home Stakeholders Coalition was created in response to resident input that all community organizations, regardless of area of work, needed to play a role in domestic violence prevention.  Today, the Stakeholders Coalition consists of organizations such as health centers, shelters, police, courts, youth programs, sports leagues, community development corporations, and civic associations, who are coming together to learn more about domestic violence and develop effective intervention and prevention strategies in their organizations.  The Stakeholders Coalition has received extensive training on domestic violence, and has been a partner in developing “What’s Your Tool?”, public awareness effort.

DIGITAL STORIES
Digital Stories are short videos created by community residents using text, voice-over, pictures, and music. Through using this multi-media tool, Digital Stories provide opportunities for residents to tell their side of the story about the issue of domestic violence using their own voice, words, and experiences. A Digital Story is the creation of one individual alone, and allows that individual to speak independently and personally about their own relationship to domestic violence.  For more information about digital storytelling and to view Close to Home’s digital stories click here. 

WHAT TO DO – WHAT TO SAY COMMUNITY TRAININGS
What to Do – What to Say Community trainings are held for all community members free of charge on a quarterly schedule.  What to Do – What to Say trainings are just that—trainings focused on helping people to brainstorm effective intervention strategies in domestic violence situations.

“WHAT’S YOUR TOOL” PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Recognizing the need for more domestic violence information in the community, community residents became a crucial part of the design and implementation team for Close to Home’s first Public Awareness Campaign. To learn more about the public awareness campaign, please visit the What’s Your Tool? section of this website.

In addition to organized events, there are other key ways that you can play a role:

Instill Domestic Violence Prevention as a Priority in Your Organization
As an organization, there are many things you can do to make sure you and your colleagues are safe and play a part in the effort. Some ideas to create an organizational culture in which domestic violence prevention is a priority include: holding staff trainings on what domestic violence is, how to provide support to those in violent situations, and how to screen constituents for abuse, developing institutional policies that recognize the impact of and have little tolerance for domestic violence and sexual assault, and working to decrease the shame and silence around the issue by passing out or posting domestic violence awareness materials consistently throughout the organization.

For more ideas on how your organization can become involved, please call Close to Home at 617.929.5151 or visit the following websites:

• The Family Violence Prevention Fund, www.endabuse.org  (Website contains an extensive section on employer roles to prevent domestic violence)

• Employers Against Domestic Violence, www.safeatworkcoalition.org


Bring Domestic Violence Information to Your Constituents
You can become an organization that places a priority in domestic violence prevention by bringing information to your constituents consistently.  Some ideas include screening constituents sensitively for abuse, and offering support to those who disclose, decreasing the shame and stigma of the issue by offering domestic violence materials throughout your space, and providing trainings to your constituents on domestic violence prevention so that they themselves can join the growing network of community members who are playing a role in responding to and preventing domestic violence.

These are just some ideas on how you and your organization can play a role in domestic violence prevention. To discuss any of these ideas or to share new ones that you may have, please call Close to Home at 617.929.5151