Today’s spotlight is on Safe Haven Ministries. This critical organization has been in the GR area since 1990! Safe Haven serves women and children who have experienced domestic abuse, offering emergency shelter and non-shelter programs for women and children, as well as education and prevention programs for the entire community. We are glad there is a resource available for women and children who are in a dire situation. For more information, and to get involved, check out their website: www.safehavenministries.org

    http://youtu.be/3s2hu9Zon4s

        There is little doubt that domestic violence has a devastating impact on victims. This is especially true in regard to the innocent, blameless child witnesses. Children who grow up in violent homes are faced with unbearable trauma, as they helplessly watch their mothers endure relentless abuse. There are vast differences in possible outcomes of the behavior of children, many of which depend on the child’s resilience, among other personality characteristics, as well as environmental factors and emotional support systems. One key area of importance is early intervention. Research suggests that removing the child from the abusive home environment is of utmost importance, and an imperative solution to future difficulties. This is especially important since interaction between the child and the environment is of vast significance during the child’s development process.

            Safe Haven Ministries’ shelter, Ramoth House, offers the solution to the problem, and allows the child a place of safety and refuge, opposed to an emotionally and physically violent environment. Our goal is help women and their children escape from a destructive environment, offer them refuge, and empower them as they transition into their own homes, free of violence. Through these strategies, along with preventative measures, we can hope to alleviate the undeniable pain of domestic violence in women and the tremendously harmful effects it can have on the innocent, blameless child witnesses. 275 million children worldwide are exposed to violence in the home. Help us to help them. They are counting on us.

Domestic Violence  (Music Video)

 In U.S. society, people are more likely to be physically assaulted, abused, and neglected in their own homes, rather than anywhere else, and by other family members rather than anyone else. These facts illustrate the tragic prevalence of domestic violence in America. Additionally, adult victims of domestic abuse are commonly blamed for tolerating the abuse, and not leaving the relationship once it begins. As such, the focus turns toward blaming the victim, which is never acceptable, as the assailants are the ones who must be held accountable. I have listened to women’s tragic stories of devastating abuse, and understand the reasons women stay in abusive relationship are extremely complex. It is important to know that the assailants impose extreme control and exert tremendous power over the victims. Thus, the problem of domestic abuse is not a clear cut, dichotomous situation, and some women may not be aware of the resources available to leave an abusive relationship. Motivated by Christ’s love, Safe Haven Ministries’ mission is to end the suffering of women and their children who are the victims of domestic abuse, and provide a supportive place of hope and refuge. We are the needed resource to help the victims find a way out of a dangerous and violent relationship.

Sometimes running is the most courageous thing a woman can do. Help us to help the women who are counting on us.

Join our team @ Run with Safe Haven

www.safehavenministries.org

 Some people are runners.  They run because they love it.  The laps, the treadmill, the wind in the face, over the crest of the next hill, pushing it to the next level.  It’s a rush.  Not just emotionally, but physically—deep down in the bones.  The after effects of the endorphin rush brings with it a high that is healthily addictive, leaving this kind of runner asking, wondering, longing for the next opportunity to lace up the kicks and hit the pavement.  This is not me.

 But everyone is running (or has run) and therefore, is a runner, of sorts, too.  I mean, we all run at some point.  There is the “run or else” runner—she books it through the airport to make that connection so she doesn’t have to spend the night in Ohare.  Then you’ve got the “sports runner” who tricks himself into running by way of chasing a ball around a field.  And let’s not forget the “thanksgiving day runner” who plays a little pickup football once a year and returns home walking with a proud lift in his step, but he knows it’s really a pulled hamstring.  Also, not me.

 Somewhere in between there’s a lot of 5/3 Riverbank Runners like myself.  I won’t ever claim to be in the first class, but I can get after it more than my poor uncle with the damaged hammie.  We run because there is a goal out in front.  We choose to run the 25K because we’ve run the 5 and the 10 already.  We are making strides, taking clicks, moving towards something.  We are on a journey of some type.  We are trying to lose weight, lower our cholesterol, get ready for a triathlon, or meet a New Year’s resolution.  Our running is purposeful.  It takes a lot of time.  We expend a great deal of energy.  We are focused.  We slip, but get back on our feet.  We run with intention.  We are disciplined.

 We run out of privilege.  No matter which of these groups you find yourself in, you run because you want to…because it’s fun…because it is a rush…because you can.  But not all who run are doing it for fun.  Not all who run have a choice.  Not all who run will see the finish line.  Not all who run will taste the joy and the rush of endorphins.  Not all who run will feel the embrace of the crowd.  Some women run to flee abuse and the threat of harm.  Forty-five percent of domestic violence homicides occur when a woman attempts to leave an abusive partner.  Almost half.  This.  Must.  Change.

 “Sometimes the most courageous thing a woman can do is run.”   Jennifer Ackerman Haywood, Safe Haven’s previous road warrior, coined this tagline.  There are times when all a woman can do is run.  There are times when the typical means of reconciliation have expired.  There are times when she has to push the chips all in, make the call, and do what’s best for her and her children.  And that thing is to RUN.  And it’s a phenomenal risk.

 And so we run the 5/3 Riverbank Run.  Whether we are elite runners or 5K walkers, we join in solidarity with the women who have run, are running, and will run.  In the next several entries, I invite you to come back and hear what women are running from…what they are running to…and how Safe Haven is running with them.

 Will you run for them?  Join our team @ Run with Safe Haven

www.safehavenministries.org