September 30th, 2015, West Hartford, CT – Students, faculty, and staff joined together to raise funds to help end domestic abuse and violence during the month of September in honor of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Working with both Interval House, a local women’s safe house, and the Hands and Words Are Not For Hurting Project, students and staff raised over $600 in donations.

Since 1977, Interval House has been dedicated to providing services to prevent the cycle of family and intimate partner abuse. Since opening their doors, more than 200,000 victims of domestic violence have been helped. Interval House staff visited the campus and shared information on their services and how best to help those who find themselves in a domestic abuse situation. The Hands and Words Are Not For Hurting Project was created in February of 1997 in Salem, Oregon to educate each person in every community about their moral and legal right to live free of abuse and violence. Since then, it has expanded to many schools and communities throughout the entire country and 11 foreign countries. Students and staff signed the 14-word pledge that ‘I WILL NOT USE MY HANDS OR MY WORDS FOR HURTING MYSELF OR OTHERS’ on a poster that now hangs in the student lounge as a daily reminder. If you or someone you know needs immediate help, please call Interval House’s 24-Hour Domestic Violence Hotline at (860) 527-0550 or 1 (888) 774-2900.