Year's End

I was saddened at learning of what is called by the media, "Santa Claus Massacre", where 9 lives were lost and many others damaged forever because a man was angry at his ex-wife and her family. He was angered and felt justified to take their dreams, hopes for the future away because he was not able to control those people around him.

People like him - that is why we do what we do - why we take the stand that, "Victims should be empowered and Abusers held accountable.

This year has been incredible for Fix The Hurt and Domestic Violence The Musical. We have had the opportunity to bring the awareness and prevention message to about 3,500 people. If half of our audience were women, say, 1750 and one-third of those women are victims, then statistically 583 of our audience are, or will be victims. That number is not acceptable, not in this woman's mind or heart. We will continue to work to end domestic abuse in all forms. We will continue to talk about healthy relationships, to encourage all victims to say STOP and to hold abusers accountable. We will do this for all Lisa's, Julie's, Jennifer's and Bob's. We remember you, we love you.

We wish all a very Happy New Year.

New Opportunities, New Friends

This has been a busy week for Fix the Hurt. So much going on, and most all of it "good stuff".

Last Sunday evening about 10:00 PM we got an e-mail from the Marine Air Station in Iwakuni Japan, telling us they had the "green light" on funding to start the process to take Domestic Violence the Musical?, to Japan. It is intended that the play will be shown to Marines, Sailors, schools and the community in general. We are working to get the details resolved, and hopefully, the cast will be there in April delivering the Domestic Violence Prevention Message.

What an honor to be a part of assisting the military in resolving some of the domestic abuse issues around the world.

On Tuesday, we went to Florence, Arizona Prison and presented a program to 16 of the inmates that are in the restorative justice program there. We are always impressed with the caliber of the people that come to presentations from the Arizona Department Of Corrections programs. The program appears to be working well and they are having about a 97 % success rate with inmates that graduate for this program.

We had an opportunity Saturday night to visit the Phoenician Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona to meet and talk with Lisa Addeo, who entertains in the Thirsty Camel Lounge in the evenings. What a delight to see her perform and talk with her about Domestic Abuse. Lisa has written as song about domestic abuse, My Intuition, and is talking about joining forces to help us get the message out. So, a new friend and ally is added to the growing group joining the Fix the Hurt Domestic Abuse prevention effort.

FROM EL PASO AND PHOENIX TO JAPAN! WHERE NEXT???

Insuring a Happy Reunion

A question that looms in some peoples mind is, “Will bringing large numbers of troops home in a short period increase the incidents of domestic violence here at home? Duuuh!
If one in four couples experience domestic violence, then 143,000 troops coming home will put 143,000 couples back together, so the incidents from that will result in 35,000 domestic violence incidents. That is only if the ratio of 1 in 4, have domestic violence issues. I submit the ratio will be considerably higher as a result of stress, marital infidelity, attempting to readjust to a forgotten life style and a myriad of other issues. If it is 1 in 3, the number goes to 47,000 incidents. Spread evenly over 50 states that would be about 940 incidents per state from deployment home alone. It would seem we should be planning for the return of our troops and to be able to give them all of the support we can.
What would be wrong with trying to prepare those family members here, now to handle the return by knowing how to help avoid abuse and what to do in the event of an abusive situation, before they have to face it? Hmmmmm Not a bad Idea! Fix the Hurt will get on that, and see what the current program is through the family advocacy centers in the military. The District Attorney of Alamogordo and the Commander at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, NM, have worked diligently to prepare soldiers and families for their reunions. This was obvious to us as we brought Domestic Violence The Musical ? to their town and their base just two months ago. Other military bases/posts may already have training programs in place, but we suspect the training is for the partner in the military. We will let you know next week, if we can find out.
On another note, let us all be aware of the historical increase in violence during this season. It is a sad truth that a great Christmas present to many is to not get a beating. Let us ever be alert and do all we can for any victim that is in an abusive relationship. What better gift could we give at this Joyous time of the year