The Strafford County Family Justice Center, in collaboration with HAVEN and the Rochester Recreation Department, is hosting Path to HOPE on Thursday, October 21st at 6pm; a guided candlelit walk to honor the voices of survivors and victims’ during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The event seeks to remember those we’ve lost, honor their memory and the stories of those who have survived, and to connect victims and survivors in the community.

Participants will be provided with battery-operated candles and join us on a walk through Dominicus Hanson Pines Forest in Rochester, NH. Participants will meet at the entrance to the forest nearest the public pool. Immediately following the walk, the Family Justice Center will be open for tours and support for attendees.

Recent news coverage of a high-profile disappearance and murder of a young blogger has triggered a national discussion about the prevalence of domestic violence in our society. We also know there is a growing conversation around how to best respond to and prevent domestic violence and that those conversations involve important issues such as race, justice, police methods, and the voices of those suffering at the hands of an abuser. The Strafford County Family Justice Center believes that survivors know what they need and are an important part of this conversation. We also know that our collaboration amongst law enforcement and social service agencies is a model that works to increase safety for the community and survivors, while increasing accountability for people who do harm.

We are all in this together. When a community stands up and says ‘NO MORE’ to domestic violence we can begin to build a system that not only supports the victims of abuse but also looks to prevent abuse and break the generational cycle of violence. We start by acknowledging the pain and the stories of our survivors. We look to HOPE to guide us toward a support network that understands domestic violence is often related to trauma we endure in silence and, that in order to heal, we must invest in each other and our families. Please join us on Thursday, October 21st, 2021, at 6pm on our Path to HOPE.

If you or someone you know is experiencing intimate partner violence you can access support 24/7 by calling HAVEN’s crisis hotline at 603-994-SAFE (7233) or NH Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence Statewide Crisis Hotline at 1-866-644-3574.

For more information on how to support the Strafford County Family Justice Center, please visit our website at www.scjfc.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.