Greetings!!!
The four of us are students at Suny New Paltz, in New York. We are taking a class called Violence Against Women and this is our project. We all chose to do our project on Domestic Violence for a variety of different reasons. Our requirements were to somehow publicize our project with the hope of making a difference.
In our own words, this is who we are:
My name is Devin and I am a twenty year old female junior at SUNY New Paltz. I have been a New Paltz resident my entire life and attended school here in New Paltz from kindergarten through high school. I am an Interpersonal-Intercultural major and a Women's Studies minor. While taking Women's Studies courses including Violence Against Women, I have been made aware of very important pressing issues concerning women in many aspects of their lives. I feel that domestic violence is a battle that we must fight towards ending every day. I hope that this web-site designed by my group and I will help to educate others and encourage those in violent relationships to try to get the help and support they deserve.
My name is Luz. I am currently a Junior majoring in Psychology. I am 30 years old and of Puerto Rican descent. I was a child witness of and a survivor of domestic violence. Hearing and seeing my father beat and terrorize my mother was a traumatic experience which shaped the person I am today. It was a long time before I was able to talk about the abuse and by carrying that secret it became my shame. The time has come to place the shame where it belongs and that is with my father Carlos Tapia. Now as a mother to my son Michael I work everyday to make sure that he grows up with respect for himself and for women. By naming the person who abused my family, I am doing my part to "Break the Silence" and with my son I am working to break the cycle. It is my desire that by speaking out I help put an end to this senseless abuse because enough people have suffered already!!!
My name is Christie and I'm a fourth year Psychology major at SUNY New Paltz. Thankfully, I am not a survivor of Domestic Violence, but taking this class has opened my eyes about the truth of what goes on in relationships that involve domestic violence. My hope is that by doing this website that maybe one person involved in a violent relationship will see our page and seek help. If only one person is helped by this site, it will make it all worthwhile. To all abused men, women, and children out there, my heart goes out to you. Take care of yourselves and God Bless You All!
My name is Diana. I am a student at SUNY New Paltz, majoring in Sociology with a minor in Psychology. I am the mother of five children and the grandmother of one. I was a foster parent in a therapeutic foster care program for eight years. As a foster parent I had the opportunity to work with children who were (SED) seriously emotionally disturbed. Most of these children were victims of Domestic Violence. I have spent many years working with and advocating for children who are abused and/or come from abusive homes. It has been my pleasure to work with a group of students from SUNY New Paltz who are dedicated to Domestic Violence Awareness and have participated in contributing to this website. I hope it proves to be informative and inspirational.
We started out as a group of five. Unfortunately, our fifth group member couldn't help us complete this project. However, she was a dedicated member of our group who felt this cause deeply. Much of what you see on our site was contributed by her. She wanted this page to be hopeful and filled with not just statistical facts about Domestic Violence. If she ever sees this page, I hope she's pleased with it. She deserves much credit for what you see here!
