Matching donor supports Saving Grace Police Line
Every year, S.S. gives thanks for the Saving Grace Police Line.
When law enforcement showed up to the ranch where S.S. lived with her family five years ago, she was in grave danger. The responding officer suspected she was at high risk of being killed by her husband. So he called the Saving Grace “Police Line,” immediately connecting her with an advocate who helped her make a plan to stay safe.
“He asked me a series of questions and determined that my safety was in jeopardy,” S.S. explains. “He called Saving Grace, an organization I’d not heard of, and connected me to an advocate. From that point forward, Saving Grace became mine and my children’s path to safety, health, and freedom.”
Today, S.S. is paying it forward as a volunteer for Saving Grace, helping survivors like her find safety and healing. If it were not for Saving Grace’s Lethality Assessment Program (LAP), which gives law enforcement the screening tools and funds the Police Line, she could have easily become a tragic statistic. More than half of female murder victims die due to intimate partner violence.
The Police Line gives victims a chance to become survivors, before it is too late. And the information police gather through lethality assessments can strengthen a survivor’s legal case against an abuser.
“The LAP program has been a vital resource for the District Attorney’s Office in prosecuting crimes of domestic violence,” Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel explains.
This #GivingTuesday, Saving Grace is raising funds to ensure that someone is always there to answer that life-saving call. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, the first $12,000 in donations toward the Saving Grace Police Line will be matched dollar for dollar. The goal is to raise the $24,000 needed to fully fund this vital program.
Saving Grace provides confidential and free service to survivors of intimate partner violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking in Central Oregon and promotes the value of life without violence. Learn more at www.saving-grace.org.
