For my community service project I volunteered at a women’s shelter called Safe Harbor over Thanksgiving break. Safe Harbor is a shelter that houses women and children escaping domestic violence situations while also providing food, a place to sleep, safety, counseling, medical services, and educational services for the victims. The event I volunteered at was called “Girls Night Out,” and allowed women to get their hair and makeup done. The event also provided the women of the shelter business clothes which had been donated by a local thrift store. The purpose of this event was to provide the women with necessities and the skills to prepare for future job interviews.
4 thoughts on “Research Project 2: Safe Harbor and “Girls Night Out””
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
This seems like a great way to give back to the community, it’s very empowering for someone who has been in this kind of situation to know that they are not alone. In terms of power, I think it is so important that women in former abusive relationships to understand that they have power in their relationships and that Safe Harbor can help them regain some of their power and confidence in their own life. I am wondering, though, if you saw different forms of power within Safe Harbor while volunteering with them?
It was sad to read that financial dependence is a reason that some women do not leave abusive relationships. We talk about in class how money is a power resource but it the concept of businesses and cities. I never thought about how a lack of money could potentially trap you in a harmful relationship.
This event is really interesting to me in that it empowers the survivors in multiple ways- emotional empowerment, professional empowerment, financial empowerment… all very important for their recovery and growing independence.
I really liked this event idea. I have heard before that programs like this exist for homeless people, where haircuts, showers, and interview skills are given and taught to the homeless in order to prepare them for job interviews. It never occurred to me how beneficial this type of program would be for victims of domestic violence. It is fascinating to me how the power dynamics render the women so powerless, especially when they are also mothers, in terms of economics and access to health care. Preparing and training these women for job interviews is an essential pathway to economic and health care power. It is creative and hopefully effective. Resources and programs like these give women resources to better their situations.