October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the Copper Country

October is Domestic Violence awareness month.

Tonight, the BKG Shelter Home hosts its annual Ride Against Abuse. And later in the month the Baraga County Shelter Home will invite the community to support victims of domestic violence at the Purple Warrior Celebration.

Over the decades communities have taken cases of domestic violence more seriously, said BKG Executive Director Mary Niemela recently in an interview on Copper Country Today. Funds are set aside by the state to support homes and operations, law enforcement uses improved procedures to document cases, and she adds people talking about the issue makes it easier for victims to reach out for shelter or out of home services. 

going to go back to 95 and is when our presence at the shelter came into the courtroom. You know we received a grant, a STOP grant and which was services training officers and prosecution or the people that we work with. We no longer have that STOP grant, but we still have the position and we go into the courtroom every day there’s court on Monday, Wednesday and Friday here in Houghton. There’s our service area in Ontonagon as well and in Keweenaw. We’re there for whether there’s a victim or not because there could be domestic violence. And I’d say on an average, if you took them all together and divided them by every day of the year, we’d have one every day. – Mary Niemala, Executive Director, Barbara Kettle Gundluch Shelter Home 

The Barbara kettle Gundlach Shelter Home will host the Ride Against Abuse tonight at 6 pm starting from the AmericInn of Calumet parking lot and ending at Kester Park’s Shutes and Ladders.

The Braga County Shelter Home will host the purple warrior celebration on October 23rd at the Whirl-I-Gig in L’Anse. The Purple Warrior Celebration will include a Chicken Parm dinner and dessert with live music entertainment from Tom Katalin. Organizers will also set up a $5 raffle, and basket raffle. Tickets for the dinner will cost 25 dollars. Learn more about the Purple Warrior Celebration with the Baraga County Shelter Home online.