Livingston County officially kicked off Domestic Violence Awareness Month Wednesday with LACASA Center’s powerful GLOW Gathering, a free community event that honors survivors and remembers victims of domestic violence.
The community gathered at the Amp! at the Brighton Millpond to hear impactful speakers from LACASA, including a brave survivor who shared her courageous testimonial. The evening also featured moving performances by the Livingston Chorale and a poignant poetry reading by local author Isabella Mansfield. Livingston County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Christina Richards offered crucial insights into the legal challenges surrounding domestic violence.
“Despite domestic violence being one of the most underreported crimes, we still charge and prosecute more than 350 cases of domestic violence each year, just here in Livingston County,” Richards said, adding that the charges range from assault to strangulation to even murder.
Attendees were encouraged to wear purple, the official color of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, transforming the event into a vibrant display of community solidarity. Many extended this show of support to their homes and businesses with purple lights and displays throughout the county. At the ceremony’s conclusion, LACASA President and CEO Bobette Schrandt led the group in illuminating purple glow sticks as a symbolic gesture.
“These purple lights show our survivors that we will light the path for them and that they will never walk alone,” Schrandt told the crowd. “Let your light tonight be a symbol that a safer community for ALL of us is within reach.”
The event underscored the urgent need for awareness, with statistics from the National Domestic Violence Hotline revealing that roughly 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men over 18 have experienced severe intimate partner violence in their lifetime – affecting over 12 million individuals annually.
LACASA Center continues to provide free, confidential services for survivors of child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault in Livingston County. For help, call LACASA’s 24-hour Crisis Line at (866) 522-2725, text to (517) 777-8005, or visit lacasacenter.org.
