ROBIN WILSON
Purple Ribbon Award recipient, Domestic Shelters.org
ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTED
Our social justice mission
provides sheets and
other home products for
Domestic Violence Survivors
Project Lilac was a 2022 ANTHEM AWARD winner (SILVER)
With your support, the Project Lilac program donates a microfiber lilac sheet item to a safe house to present to a DV survivor upon arrival. This effort is funded by a portion of our retail profits as we believe it is a social responsibility to help the 1 in 4 people affected by – and who flee from domestic violence !
Our social impact endeavor supports domestic violence survivors in safe houses. Our first partner was Joe Torre’s Safe at Home Foundation in 2022 for which we won a Silver ANTHEM award (2023) for donating over 150 sheet sets. We have since partnered with Home Start Hope (Rochester) and the YWCA (Union County).
Social Responsibility Mission statement –
Everyone deserves a safe and healthy home.
Partnership – We have established a relationship with the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation which currently serves the domestic violence community for identification/selection of persons in need, distribution of donated product, and collaboration on special programs to support survivors. More recently, we partnered with Toni’s Kitchen (Montclair, NJ) and The Bridge Teen Center (Chicago, IL) to provide cleaning products for households.
Purpose – Survivors need a fresh start, and often will leave their abusive location with a few belongings and the clothes on their back. We aim to find a way to rebuild dignity and self-esteem so that these brave survivors will have a healthy sleep. And families of victims can also find support or a way to provide for others. Domestic violence is an epidemic that affects 1 in 4 families – and it can be hard to leave – and survivors will tell you that the first 72 hours are the most dangerous.
Power and Control – When you understand Domestic Violence, you realize that it is not only physical, verbal and emotional abuse – but abusers also use many other ways to ‘keep someone in their place’ – and at some point, when you decide to leave, they are angry because their ‘possession’ has made a decision without them – and they have lost control. Authorities are beginning to understand that the ‘calm’ abuser can often present well in a crisis, while the ’emotional’ victim is not calm or buttoned up. If they are not adequately trained in domestic violence scenarios, they will misread the situation.
A safe house is like the ‘underground railroad’ where individuals and organizations partner to ensure a safe place when a DV survivor and their family flee from an abusive situation. Sometimes it is a group setting, and other times, it is a “partner” who will provide an individual apartment with reduced or sliding scale rent. The unit locations are typically kept secret, to protect other individuals – but sometimes courts require the location to be disclosed to the abuser, if children are involved to allow visitation.
Contact our office at 800-830-3874 and ask to speak to Robin Wilson. An appointment will be set up with our team to discuss your entity, 501(c)3 status and needs for those who are assisted by your organization.