New Franklin County/North Quabbin Domestic Violence Task Force looks to raise awareness

With National Domestic Violence Awareness Month now underway, a new task force is working to spread awareness about the prevalence of domestic violence in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region, as well as the resources available to survivors.

“That’s why the Franklin County Domestic Violence Task Force was started, because we want to raise awareness,” said Amanda Sanderson, a task force member and executive director of the Greenfield-based Resilience Center of Franklin County, formerly called the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition (NELCWIT).

The Franklin County/North Quabbin Domestic Violence Task Force, which launched in May, represents one of six task forces in the Rural Network to End Domestic Violence. Others include the Ware River Valley, Southern Hilltown, Gardner, Northwestern District Attorney’s and Greenfield Mayor’s domestic violence task forces.

Monica Moran, co-coordinator of the Rural Network to End Domestic Violence, helped establish the network in September 2024 to bolster the task forces and bring them together to brainstorm ideas and advocate for resources at a state level.

Moran stressed that the network focuses on the distinct challenges for addressing domestic violence in rural communities, such as a lack of public transportation, scarce housing and broad opportunity for isolation.

“The rates aren’t higher, but the domestic violence itself is more severe and long-lasting. It’s easier to isolate people in rural areas,” Moran explained. “If you live on 10 acres and you run outside, you can’t yell out for the help of a neighbor.”

As a united network, the task forces spread this message to state legislators, encouraging them to acknowledge the specific hurdles along a survivor’s path to safety in rural areas.

“We want to hone their focus,” Moran said.

According to Moran, the task forces run on one-time grants from the State Office of Rural Health and state Community Development Block Grants, which vary in amount each year. While the state Department of Public Health funds advocacy and domestic violence shelters, Moran said the money stops at prevention and community engagement — the focus of the task forces.

“We don’t want to wait and spend all our money until after somebody has been abused,” Moran said. “We want to get out into the community and help people identify red flags, help people know what to say to a neighbor, so that we’re doing that front-end work.”

When task forces ask the state for the funding to power this prevention as a network instead of individual groups or resource centers, their request carries more weight, according to Moran.

“We have a bigger voice,” Moran said.

She added that many of the task forces teach high schoolers about the warning signs for domestic violence, a key goal considering the highest rates for domestic violence are among young women ages 16 to 24. To lead these conversations, Moran said advocates ask students to cite the traits of a healthy relationship as a starting point for discussions.

“You have to listen more than you talk,” Moran said. “We’re just lifting up the wisdom that’s there.”

Moran hopes to grow the Rural Network to End Domestic Violence with more task forces and fill the gaps of survivor support.

“We really wanted to bring together a cross section of the community,” said Becky Lockwood, a member of the Franklin County/North Quabbin Domestic Violence Task Force and director of the Salasin Project in Greenfield, a peer support organization for survivors. She added that weaving a network of community members in the task force is essential, considering that survivors often confide in those they trust before a community advocate.

Advocates from the Resilience Center of Franklin County and the Salasin Project, along with The Heartwing Center in Turners Falls, emergency responders, survivors and other community members, meet every month as a task force. She stressed that members “can give as little or as much as they have time for.”

Looking forward, the group plans to expand education on domestic violence by building relationships with local schools, creating cards for fire and police departments that detail resources for survivors, and designing posters.

According to Lockwood, the posters will likely feature the faces of community figures, like a grocery store manager, priest or rabbi. Beside their headshot, the poster will read questions along the lines of, “What do you say when someone tells you they’re being hurt in their relationship?” with a list of local resources.

“It makes the issue Franklin County-based,” Lockwood said. “It sends the message that you can talk about it. It’s not taboo.

“Our goal is to really start a community conversation about domestic violence and make sure that people who are experiencing violence in Franklin County know what the resources are,” Lockwood continued.

Gabriela Palacios, a community advocate at the Resilience Center of Franklin County, started as the task force coordinator in June. With voices from across the county and North Quabbin region participating in the local task force’s meetings, Palacios said the members’ points of view inform their approach.

“Everyone brings their own strengths to the table,” Palacios said. “They are a wealth of knowledge. They bring not only their resources but also information on the subject from all different perspectives.”