Domestic violence usually happens behind closed doors.
With Domestic Violence Awareness month just around the corner, Harmony House — Greene County’s only shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children — is again putting the issue in peoples’ faces with its eighth annual iCare campaign.
Harmony House hosted the iCare Kick Off Breakfast Tuesday morning at the Oasis Convention Center. More than 100 people attended and signed the iCare pledge.
iCare is a month-long and community-wide domestic violence awareness and fundraising campaign. Participating businesses and organizations encourage employees to talk about the issue of domestic violence and provide educational material to staff and their customers about warning signs and how to get help.
“Before iCare (started) eight years ago,” said Lisa Farmer, executive director of Harmony House, “nobody wanted to talk about domestic violence and Harmony House was in an old decrepit building downtown, an undisclosed location.”
That old dark and dingy building seemed symbolic, Farmer said, of the community’s treatment of the subject of domestic violence at that time. Since then, Harmony House was able to purchase and renovate a hotel on the east side of Springfield. The shelter and its residents moved into the much larger facility in 2017.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Businesses participating in iCare display posters and fliers (provided by Harmony House) throughout their organization and hold fundraisers for Harmony House.
Then on iCare Day (the last Friday in October), employees are encouraged to take the “iCare” pledge by wearing a symbolic black eye sticker. Customers and individuals in the community are also encouraged to participate on iCare day by wearing the symbolic black eye sticker.
In addition to the black eye sticker, people wear “Ask why I care” shirt lapels to get people talking about why they support Harmony House. They often share selfie photos on social media on iCare day.
“iCare is truly making a difference,” said Christine Temple, Springfield Business Journal editor and iCare co-chair. “Since the very first iCare in October of 2015, this message has been seen and heard by millions of people within our community and across the country thanks to our media partners and to Prime truck drivers who are literally bringing this message coast to coast.”
At Tuesday’s breakfast, several “legacy” business leaders spoke about their organization’s participation in iCare since it started in 2015.
The panel included: Daniel Posey with KY3, Shadow White with Mid-West Family, Dr. Howard Jarvis with CoxHealth, Jennifer Murray with Mercy Hospital, Sarah Justice with Great Southern Bank and Cheryl Briggs with DermaHealth.
ER doc sees results on domestic violence
An emergency room doctor, Jarvis said he sometimes sees the results of domestic violence on patients.
With so many hospital employees participating in the iCare campaign every year, Jarvis said it’s a great way to remind them that domestic violence is a huge problem in this community and of the resources that are available.
“We have thousands of employees and thousands of interactions with patients every day,” Jarvis said. “I think that makes a tremendous impact in the community.”
Murray, the representative from Mercy Hospital, also spoke about the importance of educating hospital staff about domestic violence.
“What iCare really has done is brought (the issue) to the forefront and helped remove some of the stigma around abuse,” she said, “and giving us the tools as health care professionals to be able to recognize the signs of abuse, to not be afraid to ask those questions.”
Farmer, who announced she is retiring later this year, thanked the legacy businesses that have supported the initiative since its inception, as well as those that have joined the movement in more recent years.
“Our community has changed so dramatically over these last eight years, and it’s because of each one of you here in this room who have stood up and said, ‘I care about survivors of domestic violence. Domestic violence is not ok. We won’t tolerate it,’” Farmer said.
“I am so filled with gratitude and humility for everything you have done to really change the conversation,” she added. “Thank you for saying ‘I care.’”
To learn more about the iCare campaign and how to participate, visit the Harmony Houe website.
