Domestic Violence in the Washington Metropolitan area has been on the rise in the last year. DC Safe, the largest crisis intervention agency, reported that traffic on their response line which support survivors has doubled. There has been 15 domestic related homicides within the last year and hundreds of other cases, not to include the many incidents that goes unreported. Dilcia Rodriguez, 1 of our dedicated volunteers and mother of 4 children in our Young Men of Promise (YMP) program, was 1 of those homicides. Out of the 15 homicides, 5 of them were connected to our program through friends or family. Since this epidemic is quietly impacting our community, we want to bring awareness to it by hosting our Power of Purple Week.

The Power of Purple Week is a series of activities & events, in support of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and in memory of Dilcia Rodriquez. The goals of this week are to bring awareness to domestic violence, honor victims & survivors and support our local domestic violence organizations & shelters. The Power of Purple Week will feature:

1) Purple Paint & Sip- purple domestic violence themed painting lesson for 25-30 domestic violence survivors at the House of Ruth shelter
2) Purple Pamper Me- evening of beauty and massage treatments for selected domestic violence survivors who were victims of gunshots or stabbings
3) Deadly Reflection Premiere- premiere of "Deadly Reflections", a short film about a woman's struggle w/ domestic violence made by the YMP
4) Purple Thursday Candlelight Vigil- evening of guest speakers, tributes, candlelight vigil and balloon release in honor of all the men and women in our community who has lost their lives to domestic violence in the past year
5) DV Survivors Dinner- dinner for 60 domestic violence survivors and their children at the Cornerstone Building

In addition, the Power of Purple Week will consist of a boys to men panel discussion on domestic violence and a tshirt fundraiser for a dv shelter.