By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent
Violence can change a child. Living in a violent home can cause kids to become either angry or emotionally numb, say child domestic violence advocates at the YWCA Seattle, King, and Snohomish Counties Lynnwood shelter.
So when the first children’s library and study area in Washington State was opened in their facility, furnished by Jewish Women International with the help of a $15,000 donation from the Verizon Foundation, they know it will go a long way toward helping a traumatized child relax and grow.
Denise Redford, a domestic violence children’s counselor at the center sees the effects of the household violence on its smallest victims.
“They are so traumatized,” Redford said. “The effects of domestic violence on children are similar to men in combat. All of them have experienced trauma. And on top of that, they’re trying to go to school and learn and interact. It’s difficult.”
As soon as the computer, desk, and printer are installed along with the kid-sized table and chairs, the little ones can sit on the large, bright blue, alphabet-adorned carpet, and choose from 300 classic children’s books shelved in new oak bookcases. They can hang out in a child-sized rocking chair, have an adult read with them in another full-sized rocker, or complete their homework.
At the Dec. 9 opening of the library, nestled in a corner of the office lobby of the YWCA Somerset Family Village in Lynnwood, administrators and counselors expressed their sincere thanks, with a lobby full of community supporters looking on.
“A Jewish scholar once wrote, ‘If you drop gold and books, pick up the books first and then the gold,’ said Susan Turnbull, chair of the JWI board of trustees in Bethesda, Md., who flew in for the ribbon cutting. “What they read today, they will carry with them for a lifetime.”
JWI’s National Library Initiative is one of eight JWI programs. It complements the organization’s domestic violence training for clergy and other professionals.
“We’re committed to ending violence against women,” Turnbull said.
The library initiative was launched in 2006 to try to break the cycle of domestic violence, help children with schoolwork, and give them a chance at a successful academic career. The time they spend in the library not only provides a needed break from the tension at home, but it also provides some normalcy in their lives that may prevent the same behavior when they become adults.
JWI’s focus is on helping young girls and women achieve success in all areas of their lives, from money, to relationships, to leadership training.
They hope to expand the program by adding tutors, but for now, by the end of 2011, they will have opened 38 children’s libraries in domestic violence programs around the country. Their eventual goal is to establish 100 libraries in battered women’s and homeless shelters.
JWI’s partner in the project is Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Wireless, which has awarded more than $28 million in cash grants to domestic violence prevention and education programs across the U.S.
Its HopeLine program recycles and refurbishes unused and donated mobile phones and gives them to domestic violence survivors for emergencies.
Verizon Wireless employees from Washington State also donated 200 books to the libraries.
“I think I had the easy part, providing the funding,” said Milt Doumit of the Verizon Foundation. “My kids read so many of these books. That’s what you’re giving these kids — an opportunity to escape.”
Mary Anne Dillon, the coordinator for the YWCA of Snohomish County, said she is proud the agency has helped so many poor and homeless women since 1894.
“We have a $7 million budget,” Dillon told JTNews. “In all of 2010, the program helped 135 young people in violent homes. The program saw 118 children who are living in violent homes between January and October of 2011.”
Jo Jo Gaon, the domestic violence coordinator at the YWCA in Renton, believes the new library will provide happy memories for many of these children who are not as fortunate as he was, growing up with a grandmother who spent many happy hours reading to him by the fireplace.
“I was thinking about how blessed I was,” Gaon saud, “and there’s a lot more need.”
Penny Potter, a domestic violence advocate at the Lynnwood shelter, sees a brighter future for these families.
“It gives them the message that there are people in the community that care,” she said, “and it’s a wonderful place [for them] to do some bonding with Mom. We’re hoping we’re going to change patterns.”