The Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women's Network will host a rally to launch Domestic Violence Awareness Month at the James Thompson Center Plaza ( outdoors ), 100 W. Randolph St. on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015, Noon to 1 p.m.
Confirmed Speakers include Illinois State Senator Heather Steans; Illinois Representative Litesa Wallace; Jennifer Cushman, Field Coordinator & Public Policy Specialist for the Responsible Budget Coalition; Yesenia Maldonado, Executive Director of Between Friends; Mayra Salgado, Member of the CoaliciÃ"n de Mujeres del Suroeste de Chicago; Kathleen Doherty, Executive Director of the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women's Network.
Governor Rauner and state officials continue to cut and withhold funds for domestic violence victims, forcing victims and their children to choose between staying in violent homes or leaving and risking homelessness. Cuts are a choice, NOT a necessity. There's no excuse for putting women and children's lives at risk because Springfield can choose revenue instead.
Securing steady income, finding affordable housing, and having access to affordable child care are necessary conditions to break free of abuse. Domestic violence organizations and other social service agencies provide critical assistance to these victims and their children as they rebuild their lives.
Ongoing state funding cuts have exhausted the reserves of domestic violence organizations and other service providers, leaving them with no choice but to gradually close programs. The elimination of these vital services and the looming threat of deeper cuts deny domestic violence survivors and their children the opportunity walk away and attain a life free of violence.
Our organization is asking people from the community to donate infant and children's shoes for a large-scale art installation during the rally. The installation will be placed at the center of the plaza, in recognition of the hundreds of children who suffer silently the impact of domestic violence every day. The goal is to create a visual for the viewer of the frequency and the severity of the suffering, and to encourage the general public to take a stand against domestic violence — and against the state funding cuts.
Following the rally, a box of shoes will be hand delivered to the Governor's office inside the Thompson Center. Legislators will also receive shoes along with letters demanding both short and long term solutions to the human services funding crisis.
To Governor Rauner and public officials in Springfield, the call is for them to Walk in Our Children's Shoes, envision A Life without Domestic Violence Services —and say No More Cuts!