First responders to get a free meal Oct. 28
A free meal will be provided and all Anderson County first responders are invited to attend at the Family Justice Center, 301 Broadway Ave., Oak Ridge from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28.
The event is sponsored by the Family Justice Center and Rapid Relief Team.
This event has been timed to occur during Domestic Violence Awareness Month not only to raise awareness of domestic violence issues in our community, but to allow the justice center to express gratitude to all those who have worked tirelessly this past year in serving our many clients.
Domestic Violence Awareness Month was launched nationwide in October 1987 as a way to connect and unite individuals and organizations working on domestic violence issues while raising awareness of those issues.
Approximately 10 million people a year are abused by an intimate partner. About 20,000 calls a day are placed to domestic-violence hot-lines. Anderson County is no exception.
A family justice center is a safe place that provides free and confidential services to victims of family violence, sexual assault and exploitation, and elder abuse by coordinating service providers in one location to make it easier for someone to flee the victimization, begin again with the necessary support in place to be successful, and to help ensure that offenders are held accountable whenever possible.
The Anderson County center opened July 1, 2021, and since then has helped nearly 300 victims of domestic violence, elder abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking on-site. In the last three months, the center has seen a doubling in the number of individuals who have walked through its doors.
“I am thrilled to be able to offer a thank you, in the form of a hot and prepared-with-gratitude meal, to those who mean so much to us,” said center Executive Director Melissa Miller. “The success of the [family justice center] model is based on collaboration and partnerships and the [Anderson County center] would not be the success it is without our partners and first responders.
“First responders are absolutely instrumental in getting clients into the Family Justice Center,” she said. “Many victims are unaware of the center as a key resource until a first responder tells them about it.
“Once a victim arrives in our center, they are surrounded by the partner agencies who support us and our clients, giving them all they need to leave an abusive situation. This event is just a small way to let them know how much we appreciate all they do.”
The Anderson County Family Justice Center appreciation cookout will be held rain or shine.