Mission Statement:
(The website for Emerging Music Network has been temporarily forwarded to this page, to reach EMN staff please email info@EmergingMusicNetwork.com)
The mission of The Heather J. Kwiate Foundation is to create positive change in the lives of those impacted by domestic violence, to raise awareness, and to develop sustainable strategies for prevention. The Foundation provides a network that includes access to safe-havens for the abused and their families. By empowering them through emotional support, emergency funding, job skills training, and other educational opportunities we strive to give help and hope to those in need in an effort to End the Silence and STOP the VIOLENCE!
4 comments:
No one is immune from domestic violence.
We are all here watching this and want you to know how deeply we are touched. Heather's mother said that this is especially sad for her because this is the day she would have turned 24, and Heather said she would have accomplished all the things she really wanted to do, by the time she turns 25, and she will never be able to reach that goal. We are all together this week working on a quilt in Heather's honor. Aunt, Agnes, Poleet, Louise, Mom Linda, Grandma Kim.
God be with you all in this time of sadness. Your memories of her are with you forever. Be strong for those beautiful babys.
Carol (GA)
Loosing someone you love is something that you never “get over”. It never leaves you; you simply learn to live with it. You try to hold on to the good memories and keep them close in your heart. Yet, when that someone that you love died in a tragic and senseless way it changes the way you grieve.
It’s hard to edge out the bad memories in favor of the good. It’s hard not to cry when someone mentions their name. Some never get over the grief.
That is why I decided to work with Heather’s Voice. Heather’s cousin, Laura and I have been friends for years. We’ve shared a lot of things in common. Yet, in the last couple of years we have shared a connection that we never would have guessed that one day we would share.
My name is Andrea and I, like Laura, lost someone I love very dearly to violence. My great-niece Brianna a 17- month old baby was beaten to death. My life, and the lives of our entire family, will never be the same.
When you loose someone you love to violence, at some point, you try to live a little more fully each day; doing your part to enjoy the things that they no longer get to enjoy. Holidays, family vacations, sunny spring days watching the children play only get sweeter because you know deep down in your heart that you need to live it for them. You understand just how precious life is and how swiftly it can be taken away.
You also develop a deep sense of responsibility. You can no longer just sit by and ignore the warning signs. Domestic violence is no longer the thing that happens to someone else. You learn that it can happen to anyone. You know you are here to help those who cannot help themselves. Domestic violence touches the lives of every person who loves the person being abused.
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence states that 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence during their lifetime and that 30 to 60% of intimate partner domestic violence perpetrators will also abuse the children in the household. They also state that witnessing domestic violence is the highest risk factor in transmitting the trend of violence to the next generation and that boys who witness violence as a child are twice as likely to abuse their own spouse and children as adults.
This is a trend that has to STOP. Our generation Can make a difference. We CAN help stop domestic violence. We owe it to those we have lost, those who no longer have a voice. You have a voice. How are you going to use yours?
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