NWACC co-sponsors program to honor victims of domestic homicide
by October 13, 2016 12:22 pm 185 views
NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville continues to foster domestic violence prevention by helping to sponsor the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter Silent Witness Project through the Benton County Domestic Violence Coalition.
With the Silent Witness Project, 26 Arkansas victims killed from domestic violence last year are each represented through red silhouettes placed throughout Benton County, intended to serve as “silent reminders” to “recognize the impact of domestic violence in our community,” according to an NWACC press release.
“We have worked with NWACC for several years on an increasing number of services and programs, but now we’re making that partnership more formal, more official,” said the shelter’s executive director, John McGee. “We realize this is a community issue and both of us, as community resources, need to address it.”
Earlier this month, NWACC was awarded a $279,000 grant for a 36-month period by the U.S. Department of Justice to provide education and prevention measures on domestic violence, improve law enforcement training, increase services to victims and create a coordinated community response team, in addition to a universal prevention program on sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.
The coalition was formed as a result of the grant. Its members include the women’s shelter, Northwest Arkansas Center for Sexual Assault, the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office and the Rogers and Bentonville police departments.
The domestic violence prevention grant came from the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women and will also fund the hiring of a full-time program coordinator and the creation of a bystander intervention program, according to the press release.
NWACC is one of 45 institutions nationwide to receive a grant for this initiative. It’s the only community college to receive the grant and the only college in Arkansas to receive it.
The shelter started the Silent Witness Project, tied to the national Silent Witness Initiative, in 2013. However, McGee said the shelter has had similar programs in place for about 25 years.
NWACC will host the program’s closing ceremony Oct. 27 at noon in the Student Center.