Verde Valley News – Verde Valley Sanctuary (VVS) has partnered with multiple organizations for its first Clothesline Project, a movement that began more than 40 years ago as a way for Survivors to tell their own unique story using words and artwork to decorate a specifically colored T-shirt to not only bring awareness to domestic violence, but as a healing tool.
The shirts will be on display during several upcoming dates and locations during the month of October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. VVS’ mission is to provide safety, services, and comfort to survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
“We are excited to offer survivors a platform to use their voices to speak their truths about what happened to them and how they survived,” VVS Director of Community Based Advocacy Vivien Mann said. “It has been healing for all involved. Survivors report feeling seen and heard validating their experiences.
Partnering with Yavapai College, VVS’ first Clothesline Project showing for Roughrider students is set to take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Prescott campus, 1100 E. Sheldon St. Shirts will be on display near the lunch quad area between buildings three and four. On Thursday, Oct. 24, Roughrider students can visit the Clothesline Project on the Clarkdale campus of Yavapai College, 601 W. Black Hills Dr., from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the school’s Resource Fair.
Shelby Thomasson, a victim advocate and coordinator for Yavapai College Campus Police, said the college is participating in the Clothesline Project for the first time.
“We are very excited to be participating in the project and to offer these opportunities to our students and staff at Yavapai College,” Thomasson said. “We do plan to continue promoting the Clothesline Project and adding to the stock of shirts each October to promote domestic violence awareness at yearly events.”
Detective Megyn Felton said domestic violence awareness is important to the Yavapai College Police Department.
“We have experience working with survivors of gender-based crimes. These are extremely personal and intimate incidents, and the Yavapai College Police Department offers resources to assist survivors of these crimes in the trauma and healing aspects of the journeys they must endure,” Felton said. “Our experience shows us that the more we can help to spread awareness and open conversations about these experiences, the more comfortable the community members will feel when they are seeking help or resources.”
Both locations will have fresh shirts ready for any Survivors willing to participate.
For those among the general public interested in viewing the Clothesline Project, shirts will be on display Tuesday, Oct. 22, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the Camp Verde Library, 130 Black Bridge Loop Road. The Clothesline Project will also be on display Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25 and 26, at the Fall Festival on the Verde Valley Fairgrounds, 800 E. Cherry St. in Cottonwood, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Originating in 1990 in the small town of Hyannis, Mass., the first Clothesline Project started when a member of the Cape Cod’s Women’s Defense Agenda learned that during the same time 58,000 soldiers were killed in the Vietnam War, 51,000 women in the U.S. were killed by the men who claimed to love them.
This statistic motivated the women’s group to create a program that would speak up and reveal the issue of violence against women, and visual artist Rachel Carey-Harper is credited with the idea of hanging color-coded t-shirts on a clothesline in a public place to bring awareness.
The concept was simple, let each woman tell her story in her own unique way, using words and/or artwork to decorate her shirt. Once finished, she would then hang her shirt on the clothesline. This very action serves many purposes. It acts as an educational tool for those who come to view the clothesline. It becomes a healing tool for anyone who makes a shirt. By hanging the shirt on the clothesline, survivors, friends, and family can literally turn their back on some of that pain of their experience and walk away. Finally, it allows those who are still suffering in silence to understand that they are not alone.
For more information about the Clothesline Project, visit TheClotheslineProject.org.
About
Verde Valley Sanctuary’s mission is to provide safety, services, and comfort to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. The agency began in 1994 as a grassroots organization with a leased modular home that slept six and has grown into a 32-bed shelter with transitional housing options, a lay legal advocacy center, community-based advocacy support, a 24/7/365 crisis hotline (928-634-2511) and a staff that takes pride in its youth violence prevention education and public outreach and awareness. VVS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and qualifying charitable organization for the Arizona Tax Credit. Federal Tax ID: #86-071314; QCO Code: #20041. Visit VerdeValleySanctuary.org for more information.
