Submitted by the Town of Friday Harbor.

During the Oct. 3 Town Council meeting, Mayor Ray Jackson declared October 20024 Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The proclamation reads as follows:

Heal, Hold and Center

WHEREAS, October is annually recognized as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and this year’s theme: “Heal, Hold & Center” invites the community to come together, embrace the many cultural ways we can heal from violence and oppression, commit to holding space for survivors, and center those most marginalized in all of our efforts to end domestic violence; and

WHEREAS, domestic violence is a complex and pervasive public health crisis that affects individuals without regard to age, race, gender, education, religious, economic, or societal lines. As we heal, hold, and center survivors, especially those navigating anti-Blackness and other systems of oppression, we remain grounded in the knowledge that there is no survivor justice without racial justice; and

WHEREAS, domestic violence is not just physical, it often presents as emotional, mental, or financial abuse and is easily sustained by lack of awareness or indifference; and

WHEREAS, Friday Harbor is fortunate to have many community resources available to help individuals experiencing domestic violence find a path to safety, including advocacy groups, access to quality services and programs, and responsive law enforcement and criminal justice support;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mayor Raymont C. Jackson, do hereby proclaim the month of October 2024 in the Town of Friday Harbor as

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

And call upon Friday Harbor residents to show appropriate recognition and support for the victim/survivors of domestic violence and abuse. Let’s learn to recognize the signs so we can make this Town a place where domestic violence does not exist.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of the Town of Friday Harbor to be affixed on October 3, 2024.

Raymont C. Jackson, Mayor