October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October 14, 2020

If you or someone you know needs assistance, please call the KWA hotline if you can, text if you can’t: (253)359-0470

Korean Women’s Association (KWA) was granted funds by Pierce County to assist domestic violence (DV) survivors who are fleeing a violent situation during the pandemic when there is no shelter space available. 

With this funding, KWA can:

  1. Place survivors in extended hotel stays for up to 30 days
  2. Provide the survivors with food
  3. Provide the survivors with clothing
  4. Provide the survivors with transportation assistance to essential services

“The beauty of this grant is that it has allowed us to assist 10 extra families, to date, which otherwise would have been homeless or forced to remain with their abuser,” says Jerry Shore, KWA Victim Services Manager. “We have assisted both female and male survivors, and each family who we have placed in a hotel has a housing referral and will be housed in their own home upon completion of their hotel stay.”

“As of now, we probably have enough funding left to assist five more survivors, and we expect that all of our funds will be exhausted by the end of October,” says Shore.

KWA advocates have worked tirelessly to ensure that each family has been emotionally supported and that their basic human needs remain met. This is a year-round goal of the KWA department but is highlighted and celebrated during October’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

“Our DV program is comprehensive,” says Pete Ansara, KWA CEO. “We work tirelessly on prevention programming to emergency services for survivors. The only way we’re going to beat this is to invest in prevention messaging.”

KWA runs one of three confidential shelters for DV survivors in Pierce County. There is also a 24/7 hotline available to survivors seeking assistance and resources. Texting is available Monday-Friday 8 am-5 pm as a response to the pandemic as victims are often on lockdown with their abuser and cannot call for help.

DV services are in response to a nation-wide effort to combat intimate partner violence and abuse, which is on the rise according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV). KWA has a mission of providing multi-lingual, multi-cultural social services to Western Washington’s most vulnerable individuals; DV survivors fit squarely into that category.

One in three women and one in four men have been victims of physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime, according to the NCADV. On a typical day, there are more than 20,000 phone calls to DV hotlines nation-wide. KWA is proud to serve as one of those hotlines, assisting victims and survivors daily by addressing their immediate needs and guiding them through the healing process in a culturally-sensitive way.

If you or someone you know needs assistance, please call the KWA hotline if you can, text if you can’t: (253)359-0470