Safe Voices

You can have groceries ordered AND delivered directly to Safe Voices to help keep the cupboards stocked in our three shelters. Visit http://bit.ly/SVinstacart to view our shopping list.

We are so happy to recognize a few of our 5K Race for Survivors sponsors. Today, we'd like to thank Platz Associates for their sponsorship -- this is at least their NINTH consecutive year as a 5K sponsor! We say "at least" because it truly might be longer, but we didn't dig through the paper records -- just the digital ones! :)

Have you registered to run or walk or wheel the 5K? This is a family-friendly, dog-friendly event, and we would love to see you there! FMI: https://bit.ly/SV_2024race

We are so happy to recognize a few of our 5K Race for Survivors sponsors. Today, we'd like to thank Spectrum Healthcare Partners () for their sponsorship -- this is their fourth consecutive year supporting Safe Voices, and their first as a 5K sponsor! Big thank you to the team there!

Have you registered to run or walk or wheel the 5K? This is a family-friendly, dog-friendly event, and we would love to see you there! FMI: https://bit.ly/SV_2024race

A couple of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of attending a benefit show at Great Falls Comedy Club to raise money for Safe Voices. All told, this even raised almost $600 for our work to support survivors of domestic abuse, s*x trafficking, and s*xual exploitation! And, perhaps the best part: a room full of folks got to spend 90 minutes laughing together. Big thank you to Leonard Kimble of GFCC, event sponsor DeBlois Electric, as well as comics Janet McNamara, Brieana Woodward, and Mike Levinsky, and our host, Tamara Lilly! Thank you all for coming out to support survivors.

We are so happy to recognize a few of our 5K Race for Survivors sponsors. Today, we'd like to thank Oxford Federal Credit Union for their sponsorship -- this is their FOURTH consecutive year supporting Safe Voices as event sponsors. Thank you so much to the team members and customers who make this possible.

Have you registered to run or walk or wheel the 5K? This is a family-friendly, dog-friendly event, and we would love to see you there! FMI: https://bit.ly/SV_2024race

What to expect when you call our 24-hour helpline:
- Helpline calls are confidential.
- Calls are answered by our answering service, who will ask your name, the best number to reach you, and if it is safe to leave a message at that number. They will then dispatch that call to one of our advocates.
- IMPORTANT: Our advocates will call back from a blocked number. This is for their safety and yours. They will introduce themselves by confirming they are speaking with the person who called and saying "Hi, this is [Name] from Safe Voices. Is now a good time to talk?"
- Every call is different and is shaped by the unique needs and desired outcomes of the caller.
- Anyone who is affected by domestic abuse, s*x trafficking, or s*xual exploitation and lives in or is connected to Androscoggin, Franklin, or Oxford Counties can use our helpline.
- The Safe Voices Helpline is here 24 hours a day, every day.

If you are experiencing domestic abuse, s*x trafficking, or s*xual exploitation, you can call us. If you are supporting a family member, friend, or colleague who is experiencing one of these situations, you can call us. If you aren't sure if what you're experiencing is domestic abuse, s*x trafficking, or exploitation, but you need to talk through your concerns, you can call us.

We are so happy to recognize a few of our 5K Race for Survivors sponsors. Today, we'd like to thank Hardy Wolf & Downing () for their sponsorship -- this is their second consecutive year supporting Safe Voices, and their first as a 5K sponsor! Big thank you to the team there!

Have you registered to run or walk or wheel the 5K? This is a family-friendly, dog-friendly event, and we would love to see you there! FMI: https://bit.ly/SV_2024race

Today marks ONE MONTH until the Safe Voices 5K Walk/Run! In honor of our date fast approaching, we're having a sale on registrations for the next week! Register before July 17 and use the code "OneMonth" at checkout and receive 15% off your registration! Register here: bit.ly/SV_2024race and begin collecting donations to support Safe Voices!

Safe Voices Race for Survivors | 5K The Safe Voices Race for Survivors | 5K is on Saturday August 10, 2024. It includes the following events: 5K Run and Walk and Youth 5K Run and Walk.

We are so happy to recognize a few of our 5K Race for Survivors sponsors. Today, we'd like to thank Maine Family Federal Credit Union for their sponsorship -- this is their second consecutive year sponsoring this event! Thank you to the staff and customers for making this possible!

Have you registered to run or walk or wheel the 5K? This is a family-friendly, dog-friendly event, and we would love to see you there! FMI: https://bit.ly/SV_2024race

All Safe Voices offices will be closed today, July 4th, in observance of the Independence Day holiday. Our helpline will continue to be staffed 24/7. Please call 1-800-559-2927 to be connected with an advocate.

On Sunday, June 29 Safe Voices will be at our final event for Pride Month: Farmington Pride! Come out and see us! And, to help keep Pride and domestic abuse education/advocacy going all year long, reach out to our education team to schedule a training or to have us at your next event. Email [email protected] to connect with our team.

Last call! Please get your tickets for tomorrow night's benefit comedy show at Great Falls Comedy Club! This is a great way to support Safe Voices and a local venue at the same time, and we would love to see you there! Tickets can be found at https://greatfallscomedyclub.com/event/friday-night-comedy-fundraiser-for-safe-voices/

Safe Voices has an op-ed in today's Sun Journal. In recent weeks, our community as seen, time and again, demonstrations of the truth that domestic violence is not a private, isolated issue. It is a matter of community safety, and one that has been under-resourced for too long. You can read Executive Director Rebecca Austin's op-ed here: https://safevoices.org/about-us/news/op-ed-from-ed-rebecca-austin-the-truth-is-clear-domestic-abuse-is-a-matter-of-community-safety/

The Power and Control Wheel developed by the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project in Duluth, MN serves as a diagram of tactics that an abusive partner uses to keep their victims in a relationship.

The inside of the wheel is made up of subtle, continual behaviors over time, while the outer ring represents physical and s*xual violence.

The Power and Control Wheel was further developed by Roe & Jagodinsky into a version specific to behaviors that might be used against an LGBTQ+ partner. If something here sounds like treatment you are experiencing, call our helpline at 1-800-559-2927 to speak with an advocate. Swipe to see the wheel graphic.

Thank you to our friends and partners at Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence for this thoughtful response to the ongoing legal crisis that is impacting survivors across the state.

The MCEDV team collaborated on an OpEd in today's Portland Press Herald:

"The decisions made by the criminal legal system in the coming weeks and months will affect the decision-making and safety of domestic violence victims for years to come. Our systems must do better and use the tools available to make evidence-informed decisions that balance continued pretrial detention without representation with the often significant danger posed to the victim and their community by each individual. "

Read more here: https://www.pressherald.com/2024/06/21/opinion-a-maxed-out-criminal-legal-system-is-failing-mainers/

It has been almost a week since domestic violence once more impacted our community in a high profile and tragic way. The fire, standoff, and death of an individual last weekend is but one more instance of domestic violence affecting our community as a whole, not only those who live with an abuser.

The male victim in this case has not yet been named, so we cannot acknowledge him in the way we usually acknowledge those who have lost their life to domestic violence. We do wish, however, to honor the loss his family and loved ones are experiencing. It is a hurt you should not have to navigate.

We wish, too, to honor the survivor who lived through this ordeal. No one should live in fear for their life, their safety, and the safety of the ones they hold dear.

Our community is hurting. While we know the twin cities are resilient, we also know that we’ve been asked to show more resilience than any community should have to in the last several months.

Safe Voices serves Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford Counties, and we have done so since 1977. Our staff live in these communities we serve. We feel these losses alongside you all, deeply, and we want to say once more today that we will continue doing this work, alongside you all, until everyone in our community lives free from abuse and violence.

As we mentioned on Monday, today's Bethel Pride event is youth organized. The students at Telstar High School saw a need in their community and got to planning! According to the 2023 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey (MIYHS), 25.5% of Maine high school students surveyed identify as LGBTQ. Youth are our future, and they are stepping up and making spaces where they can be seen and heard.

Today, we commemorate Juneteenth.

Juneteenth recognizes the day in 1865 when Union soldiers, arriving in Galveston, Texas, enforced the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and freed the Black Americans still being enslaved there. Although their order declared “absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property,” it also advised formerly enslaved Americans to “remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages,” and warned them to not gather at military posts or stop working. Even freedom was conditional.

Today, we acknowledge America’s history of racial slavery. We celebrate its end. We know we have not reached a point of equity in our country and that racism continues to exist here. And we consistently work to make our agency one in which antiracism is a pillar of how we approach our work and our community involvement.

Although we are closed today, our helpline remains available 24/7. Please call 1-800-559-2927 to be connected with an advocate.

Safe Voices will be at Bethel Pride this week on Thursday, May 20 at The Gem Theater! This event is in its second year and is once again being organized by the Telstar High School Civil Rights Team. Come on out for a G-rated drag show, vendors, and food, and drop by the Safe Voices tent to say hello!

Come see us! Safe Voices will have a tent at Lewiston's Juneteenth celebration this Wednesday, June 19th, in Kennedy Park. The event is put on by Maine Inside Out. Stop by and say hello!

Safe Voices offers inclusive services that are accessible to individuals of all genders, s*xual orientations, races, nationalities, and religions.

We are committed to supporting survivors from diverse backgrounds and we are always working to ensure our resources work for all our community members who are survivors of domestic abuse, s*x trafficking, or s*xual exploitation.

Safe Voices shelters are open to people of all genders.

Here’s why that’s important: Out of the total number of survivors who participated in The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) LGBTQ and HIV–Affected Intimate Partner Violence Survey in 2015, 27% attempted to access emergency shelter. Of those who attempted to access shelter, 44% were denied. The most commonly reported reason that survivors were denied shelter was barriers related to gender identity (71%). We never want that to be the lived reality of survivors.

Maine has robust laws to protect the housing rights of people regardless of their s*xual orientation or gender identity, but 20 U.S. states and four U.S. territories do not.

Thank you for having us, Community Concepts, Inc.. And big thanks to the Safe Voices education/prevention team for being so engaged in our community!

Anyone can experience domestic abuse. However, patriarchal gender roles, racial/ethnic stereotypes and economic insecurity mean that certain segments of the population are more likely to experience domestic abuse, such as women, BIPOC people, those living in poverty, and younger adults. For LGBTQ+ people, these same issues compound with homophobic and transphobic stigma, creating complicated instances of IPV in the community. Acknowledging these areas of intersectionality is an important part of effective advocacy.

The current cell phone outage affecting some AT&T customers may affect your ability to reach Helpline or an advocate by cell phone. Please keep that in mind if you have difficulty reaching us. Helpline remains open and staffed 24/7.

This month, and every month, we celebrate the resilience, achievements, and contributions of the LGBTQIA+ community. We acknowledge the intersections of homophobia, oppression, and domestic violence and we commit ourselves to serving survivors and working to prevent this abuse from happening.
Safe Voices services are open to all survivors and available through our helpline at 1-800-559-2927.

Our hearts once again go out to a family and a community who has lost a beloved family member and loved one to violence.

Dale Gaudreau was 59 years old when she was shot and killed by her husband.

Every homicide in our communities is something important for us all to look at, to pause for a moment to honor the person whose life was taken, and to ask how we, collectively, can create communities in which this does not happen.

Our hearts go out to Ms. Gaudreau’s family and friends. This loss is immense, and we are so sorry you’re experiencing it.

It has been just six weeks since the most recent domestic violence homicide in our community, and we also wish to acknowledge how hard it can be to hear of these murders when you are a survivor of abuse.

If you or someone you love is experiencing domestic abuse and you would like to speak with an advocate, our helpline is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Call 1-800-559-2927. We are here.

Whoa! It's already almost time for Pride! We're sending this out just a smidge early because the first Pride Month event where Safe Voices will be tabling is happening THIS weekend! Come see us on Sunday, June 2nd for the Great Falls Pride Fest following the march. See you there!

In recognition of Memorial Day, all Safe Voices offices are closed today, Monday, May 27. As always, our helpline is staffed 24/7. Please call 1-800-559-2927 to be connected with an advocate.