I walk “The Walk” so she never has to.
When we opened our doors for services in 2002, we knew there were compelling reasons to have services based in Cave Junction. These community-based services have saved lives and provided crisis and long-term support to over 6,000 survivors. Over the course of the twelve years we’ve worked hard to educate our community, our partners and funders that survivors need accessible services. We’ve made progress, but there is still work to be done.
Alliance staff and some close friends and family plan to walk the 30 miles into Grants Pass to get the word out, we all need to walk the walk if we want to end the violence against women. We’ve never done this sort of event before, so we’re beta-testing it ourselves with the hope it becomes an annual event.
A survivor that we worked with early on once said, “It might as well have been to the moon,” when we talked about her reaching out for support in Grants Pass and being told she would need to get to Grants Pass if she wanted to access help. That happened before we opened our doors, but it remains a common theme when we sit down the first time with survivors.
The Alliance approaches ending violence against women from three different perspectives: intervention, prevention and community engagement. This walk will raise funds for the intervention and prevention work, but the walk itself is another effort to engage the community in our work.
You’ll have an opportunity to sponsor walkers with a donation by the mile or a set amount. We’re in the process of designing a t-shirt for the walkers, but we’ll have extra t-shirts and grocery bags with the walk logo on them if you’d like to purchase them. You can call the office at 541.592.2515 for more information on how to sponsor a walker or to order a t-shirt or a grocery bag. Walkers will also be walking door to door to get sponsors. They’ll be wearing the t-shirt and have badges so you can be assured they are from the Alliance.
By the time the walk comes around we’ll each have walked between 100 to 300 miles to prepare for this event! We are proud to walk “The Walk,” so she never has to.
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