October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Community organizations and the city of Marysville are working to help spread the word about Domestic Violence Awareness Month this year.

“It’s a National Domestic Violence Awareness month, so the community decided to do a little more than usual this year,” said Connie Mennie, communications administrator with the city of Marysville.

City officials and some staff at local businesses will be wearing purple shirts on Tuesday in recognition of the month.

“It was good to see a good chunk of people wearing them this Tuesday,” said Mennie.

Marysville residents are encouraged to wear their own purple shirt if they want as well.

In addition they can donate to help fund care kits for domestic violence victims in Marysville at marysvillewa.gov/1007.

The effort is also meant to increase awareness of resources and services available.

Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County is the biggest provider of services for the Marysville area.

“They serve all of Snohomish County, and here in Marysville we have worked with them in the past. We wanted to support them more this year,” said Mennie.

“Probably one of the most important things they do is provide a 24/7 hotline for people in distress,” she said, which is available at 425-25-ABUSE.

The local nonprofit organization also provides an emergency shelter and confidential counseling, among other services.

The month is also meant to highlight the scope of the problem.

“Here in Marysville the police respond to an average of 85 domestic violence calls each month, and that number has gone up this year,” said Mennie.

“Year-to-date it is 11 percent higher than it was last year,” she said.

Community organizations hope the awareness month can improve access to and knowledge of the resources available.

“We know that it is a difficult topic for people to talk about, but it affects everyone in our community,” said Mennie. “We want to make it easier or at least help people be more aware of the resources that are out there."

The city of Marysville came together with multiple community partners to help raise awareness during the month of October.

Those partners include Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County, the Marysville Fire District, the Center at North Marysville, Soroptimist International of Marysville, the Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce, the Marysville Boys & Girls Club, the Marysville Community Food Bank and the Marysville Area Pastors Association.

More information about Marysville Domestic Violence Services is available at marysvillewa.gov/552.