The Silent Witness Initiative is on display at the Lima Mall until the end of October.
Jacob Espinosa
LIMA — Crossroads Crisis Center has shown its Silent Witnesses display for Domestic Violence Awareness Month for years.
But thanks to work done by Cenovus Energy engineers, the wooden silhouettes bearing the stories of local victims of domestic violence have been replaced with new figures designed to hold up for years to come.
“Repainting and maintenance on the wooden silhouettes really took a lot of work for our small staff, so a couple of years ago, we spoke with Cenovus and they led a huge project for us,” Christel Keller, Executive Director of Crossroads, said. “To have silhouettes that will withstand year after year, will be really important for us to honor those we have lost in our community to domestic, family and intimate partner violence and make sure their families have a place to come and remember them.”
Crossroads starts the Silent Witness initiative every October at the Women’s Center on Eastown Road first, then at the Candlelight Vigil and at the Lima Mall where it sits now, to finish the month.
The display, which consists of figures representing 22 women, two men and 11 children from the area, is meant to help people understand the prevalence of domestic violence, not just in the county, but everywhere.
“What we want them to realize is that everybody knows someone,” Keller said. “We all know someone that has been victimized by family members or intimate partners or spouses and we want them to educate themselves on helping those who are in abusive relationships before it gets to the point where you can’t.”
Sheryl Christlieb, whose daughter Mikki Starr was taken by an abusive husband, knows the consequences of domestic violence too well and said that being on hand to open the display meant a lot.
“It is overwhelming, but I know that if one person reads this and they’re going through anything and they can get help, that means the world,” she said. “That’s all it takes, is one person. I want people to know that if they are going through something they can get help and they can get out.”
Cenovus engineer Steve Hunt said that it was luckily easy to create the designs with the tools available to them and templates that Crossroads already had created, and that the work was well worth it.
“This was absolutely marvelous,” he said. “When (former boss) Dan (Groman) first asked me to be a part of this to help him, I could’ve never envisioned the depth of what this would do. To help the community and create awareness, but also just for myself, it’s one of the best projects I’ve gotten to be a part of in my lifetime and I’m really happy and blessed.”
“When we completed this project, it wasn’t until we got it completely done that we put the plaques on each of them,” Groman, who is now retired, said. “It makes you so aware of the impact of each person. Every silhouette represents a life that was lost and the families were impacted in a horrible way and our heart just goes out to those families.”
“It means a lot,” Keller said. “It’s sometimes mixed emotions because it’s sad to have to have this and it’s not something that we want to add to, but to be able to represent those that we’ve lost with these beautiful silhouettes and make sure that their family has a place to come every year to remember them and know that their name has not been forgotten is really important to Crossroads.”
The display also has a table with brochures featuring information on domestic violence.
Anyone experiencing domestic violence is also free to reach Crossroads by chat at their website or by calling or texting their crisis hotline 419-228-HELP.
“People are worried about your safety and you need to talk to an advocate (if you are experiencing domestic violence),” Keller said. “We don’t want them to be worried. They can remain anonymous if they choose to, but reach out to and advocate to talk about safety options and share their story.”
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
