Here are four groups across the state that are fighting for a safer, more just Vermont.

By Sarah Johnsen, for the Community News Service

April is Sexual Violence Awareness Month, and advocacy organizations across Vermont are taking the extra spotlight to celebrate their community, fundraise for programs and educate the public about their services. 

The monthlong campaign has been observed by groups and leaders nationwide since 2001, organized by the nonprofit National Sexual Violence Resource Center.  

Here are four groups across the state that are fighting for a safer, more just Vermont.

NewStory Center, Rutland County 

NewStory Center is Rutland County’s survivor advocacy organization. They serve victims of domestic and sexual violence, stalking and human trafficking. 

For NewStory Center’s Executive Director Avaloy Lanning, Sexual Violence Awareness Month is “to remind those that don’t think about it all the time (…) that it’s happening in our community and to think about those people who who aren’t as safe as the rest of us.”

The group offers a wide range of services, including emergency housing, case management, community education, a food pantry and counseling. It also has a 24-hour crisis hotline. 

One of the center’s main tasks is supporting those who arrive at Rutland Regional Medical Center having experienced a sexual assault. Advocates can offer a listening ear and a hand to hold through the difficult process.

“We would be there to support a victim through the entire process,” Lanning explained. “That might include sexual assault examination with a forensic nurse, all the way to reporting the crime if that was something that they chose to do.”

On April 17, the center plans to hold its annual Coffee and Conversations event at The Hub CoWorks in Rutland from 8 to 9:30 a.m. It’s a panel discussion featuring professionals who support survivors of sexual assault in different ways. 

Panelists include an advocacy attorney, a member of the Rutland City Police Department and a nurse from the forensics program at Rutland Regional Medical. The panelists will discuss what help survivors can access in the community and how professionals like themselves can better prevent sexual harm in the county.

“We want everyone to know that there is a safe place to go,” Lanning said. “There are many people in our community that are here to help and listen and believe you.”

Umbrella, Northeast Kingdom

Umbrella, a resource center for women, families and other survivors of domestic and sexual violence, serves Orleans, Caledonia and Essex counties. Its advocates help survivors through safety planning, assistance filing legal forms, emergency housing and a 24-hour hotline. 

Umbrella also runs Kingdom Child Care Connection, which offers child care subsidies and works with child care providers to accommodate the sensitive and stressful needs of families facing violence. They also have a service called The Family Room — a monitored space for visitation or child handoffs in the case of shared custody. 

In the spring of 2023, Umbrella launched The Spark, a violence prevention warmline meant for nonemergency situations (unlike a hotline). The second of its kind in the U.S., according to Umbrella, the line accepts calls from people who want to stop or prevent themselves from causing harm to their partners. 

The confidential phone line is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day and run by responders trained to guide abusive partners away from hurting others.

“It’s meant for folks to call as a way to ideally support them and de-escalate really heightened moments to prevent any harm happening in the relationship,” said Chelsea Coro, social change coordinator at Umbrella. 

Umbrella also has youth education programs. Workers do classroom visits in high schools focused on building the idea of consent and healthy relationships.

Umbrella’s main programming focus lands in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, but for this spring, the group will be hosting its sixth annual spring gala at Mountain View Farm in East Burke. The event is slated for May 16 from 5:30 to 10:00 p.m. 

This year’s gala theme is radiance, and all of the proceeds will go directly toward the nonprofit’s programs, Umbrella says. 

HOPE Works, Chittenden County

HOPE Works is Chittenden County’s anti-sexual violence agency. It provides advocacy and counseling services to survivors and their loved ones, such as facilitating support groups, helping people apply for restraining orders, answering a 24-hour hotline or accompanying survivors in court. 

Like its Kingdom counterpart, the team at HOPE Works visits high schools and colleges around the county to educate students about healthy relationships and consent.

“It’s everyone’s issue. That’s kind of what we try to highlight (in the sessions),” Director of Prevention Ava Warren explained. “It’s not just a survivor issue.”

Sexual Violence Awareness Month, Warren said, is a way to break down barriers around the topic and open people up to conversations they wouldn’t normally have. It also means an opportunity for fundraising and a time to celebrate survivors. 

Throughout April, HOPE Works is planning to bring people together through small events around food and dancing. The group is also holding a pre-order bake sale with goods getting distributed April 21. 

“While it can feel counterproductive,” Warren said, “doing some fun events really changes the tune for how people think about prevention work, healing and trauma.” 

HOPE Works’ main event for Sexual Violence Awareness Month is the Take Back the Night march and speak out April 29. Take Back the Night is considered the oldest worldwide movement against sexual violence and started as a way to overcome the fear women feel walking alone at night, Warren said. 

The event will start at 5 p.m. outside the University of Vermont’s Royall Tyler Theatre. Together, those gathered will walk down to Burlington City Hall where there will be a mic ready for anyone to tell their story to an understanding crowd. 

The Safety Team, statewide 

The Safety Team, based in South Burlington, is an interpersonal violence prevention organization that teaches people the basics of martial arts to help them heal from trauma or learn how to protect themselves and others in dangerous situations. 

The Safety Team has two major programs. The first is the Trauma Recovery Program, which is funded in part by a Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services grant — though, the group says, that money is subject to a federal pause.

The program is a free set of sessions designed for women who have experienced any type of interpersonal violence. It focuses on how the brain and body respond to trauma, and participants learn different techniques to feel empowered and safe. Participants learn about redirecting blame toward perpetrators, risk reduction strategies and strong boundary setting.

The second program focuses on physical and verbal defense techniques through workshops and demonstrations.

The Safety Team doesn’t host sessions in a fixed location, instead bringing workshops to where they’re needed most. 

“We use community rooms; we’ve been on university campuses. We go wherever we are asked to go and can make happen,” said Christine DiBlasio, co-founder of the group and a fifth-degree black belt in Kempo jujitsu.

The group is hosting an event called “Fostering Safety in an Unsafe World” at the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center’s Film House in Burlington on April 14. It starts at 6 p.m. and is free. Visitors can expect to watch a video featuring the team and its programs as well as learn some basic defense techniques.

Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship