Independence House has been working with the survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault for close to 25 years. Last year, they organized support groups for children as young as 5, all the way up to high school age. Each week there is a topic, Independence House executive director Lysetta Hurge-Putnam explained. The counselors cover safety planning, self-esteem, and what is abuse, among other subjects. Hurge-Putnam said the goal is to help the children realize they have options about how to express themselves.
Counselors help children see the consequences of their actions.
Independence House also is safe haven for some children who have no stability elsewhere in their lives. The lesson that may affect students the most actually was not intended for them. Lifting the silence The Clothesline Project began in 1990 when a group of women looked around and saw too much domestic violence. That idea was carried further by Rachel Carey Harper who had seen pieces of the AIDS quilt. She thought that the tragic story of domestic violence could best be told by using shirts hanging on a clothesline.