Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Building a Community Response to Domestic Violence - It Takes Everyone

I am at the Innovation Through Collaboration: Building a Community Response to Family Violence national conference http://www.ccafv.org/Conference/index.php. One of the cool things about this conference is that it has "tracks" -- Business, Legal, Victim Services, Health Care, and Faith.

I love that there is a business track for this conference. So many times when we talk about a coordinated community response to family violence, the community thinks of many players at the table - law enforcement, the educational community, the faith community, the medical community, service providers . . but often employers are not thought of as an important part of the community at the table.

Not only will workplaces employ victims (and batterers) but they are also a rich network of information and assistance for those they employ. After all, where do we spend a majority of our time? At work. Where do we have the potential to get a great deal of information about the the resources and assistance available in the community? At work.

And where are we likely to manifest the difficulties we are experiencing at home? At work.

And if workplaces better understand family violence because they are part of the collaboration, they are more likely to respond effectively.

It is a win-win for everyone in the community.

"Innovation Through Collaboration." It is a great title for a conference. . .and it is a great model for our communities. And it takes all of us to be part of it.

1 comment:

Kim Wells said...

I don't usually just comment on my own blogs, but I am in the airport and a man was asking me about using my PDA as a modem and I was explaining about how generous Verizon Wireless is to the Corporate Alliance with respect to the technology they provide to us. In the midst of that discussion he said "Thank you for what you do for all of us."

It was just such a kind thing for a man to say in the airport when a lot of times when I tell people what I do they are somewhat taken aback. What a cool guy.