By Norma Dittman Southwest Crisis Center is hosting an Open House from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, September 30th at 2551 Broadway Avenue, Slayton. This is a kickoff event for October - Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Sara Wahl, Executive Director and Kari Voss-Drost, Assistant Director, at the Center, recently spoke about available services, their upcoming Open House, and the nation-wide Clothesline Project.
“The Southwest Crisis Center is here serving people who have experienced, or are experiencing domestic violence,” Voss-Drost stated. “Many people don’t realize that domestic violence includes more than physical violence. It is about power and control which can manifest in many ways.”
Voss-Drost continued by stating that domestic violence can also be through the intimate partner causing of emotional isolation.
“The partner will says things about family or friends like, ‘they don’t get us’ or ‘they don’t understand me’. There may be monitoring of phone calls that the victim doesn’t know about that leads to the victim believing people don’t reach out to them. It could be tearing down someone’s credit score or making sure they don’t have credit to buy a car or make a first month’s rental deposit,” Voss-Drost said. “There are many,many ways that domestic violence occurs.”
“It is all about that pattern of power and control. They may put down the victim’s accomplishments, or prevent them from doing things by using intimidation or threats to gain compliance,” Wahl added.
“The Southwest Crisis Center is the community’s local service provider,” Wahl continued. “We answer questions, walk through the criminal justice program, help with restraining orders, and future safety planning.”
Voss-Drost and Wahl stated that there are two agencies in in the Slayton community who are available to lend help in domestic violence situations - the Southwest Crisis Center and New Horizon’s Crisis Center, who provides crime victim services.
“If you come to either the Southwest Crisis Center or New Horizon’s, the agencies work together to get a victim the help that they need,” Wahl stated.
The September 30th Southwest Crisis Center’s Open House will feature The Clothesline Project. “The Clothesline Project is a nation-wide project, but Minnesota has their own project that tells a story of a person who is no longer here - it memorializes or honors victims,” Voss-Drost said.
The visual display of T-shirts was created to address the issue of violence against women. The artwork on the shirts is done by survivors of violence, or by family and friends of someone who is deceased due to intimate partner homicide. Some of the shirts are created by volunteer artists, or by members of agencies such as the Southwest Crisis Center. Each shirt tells a story, raises awareness, and honors the victim.
The T-shirts come from Violence Free Minnesota, which has a collection of Clothesline Projects T-shirts from 1992 to present.
“We are hoping that people will come to the Open House, and take a look to get to know more about what we do,” Wahl stated. “The Clothesline Project is an exhibit. We won’t be taking it down right away, so if someone can’t make it to the Open House, they can come in and see it later.
Wahl has been with Southwest Crisis Center for 15 years. Based out of Worthington, the office in Slayton opened three years ago this fall.
“I want to let people know that we are here, serving the community. We are continuing our outreach to lend help,” Wahl said.
For more information about Soutwest Crisis Center and its services, please visit their website: mnswcc.org The all-access number is 507-376-4311.
There is also a Facebook page that can be accessed by searching Southwest Crisis Center.
Southwest Crisis Center serves 6 counties: Nobles, Murray, Pipestone, Rock, Cottonwood and Jackson.
