The real emergency in our midst

A woman runs through her house, scooping up whatever she can, a tearful child at her side; she's shaking and sweating. She thinks her husband may kill them that night.

For many of the victims of domestic violence we serve, this is the reality shortly before they arrive at our doors.

No one would dispute that this is a real emergency. The police acknowledge it when they follow up on their 911 calls for help, and also when they refer people to my agency, Family Shelter Service. Here we offer them emergency shelter, assistance with Orders of Protection and a host of other services to help them break free from the trap they can't escape on their own.

Domestic violence is not just a dispute between people. It takes lives. And sometimes, there are innocent bystanders, as happened at a San Bernardino, California, school on April 10 when a man seeking retribution against his estranged wife opened fire in a classroom in San Bernardino, California. He ended up killing the woman, a teacher, and one of her students, an 8-year-old boy. Another male student, aged 9, was wounded.

And yet over the past year, the state has watched as a cascade of domestic violence shelters have closed in Illinois, after they were inexplicably left out of last summer's stopgap budget.

At Family Shelter Service, the victims we serve typically have short-term needs: the chance to get back on their feet so they can rebuild their lives after domestic violence.

We all need to see domestic violence for the emergency it is and for the safety risk it poses for all of our communities. Why aren't we giving it the serious attention it deserves?

Judie Caribeaux, Executive Director

Family Shelter Service

Wheaton