The Women’s Shelter of Central Arkansas’ fundraiser, Risen From Silence, is about having fun, but it’s also meant to call attention to a serious subject, the shelter’s executive director said.
The event is scheduled from 6:30-9 p.m.
April 20 at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 514 E. Sixth St. in Conway.
Carrie Curtis, executive director of the shelter, said her goal is to raise much-needed money for the shelter and awareness of domestic violence.
“We will have people there who have gone through domestic-violence situations,” she said.
KARK 4 Today host D.J. Williams, a former Razorback tight end and NFL player, will be a guest speaker, Curtis said. “His mother went through [domestic violence], and that’s why he lived in Arkansas. They moved from Texas, and he lived with her in a shelter in Little Rock,” Curtis said.
Also making comments will be Brandi Smith of Conway, whose ex-husband is in a Tennessee jail, charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and domestic assault-bodily harm for an incident that occurred in Memphis. He has a pretrial hearing the same day as Risen From Silence, she said.
Curtis said those two testimonies will give “a real look into someone who has experienced domestic
violence. We want people to be more aware of how that works.”
A visual of the impact of domestic violence will be on display at the event through Silent Witness, life-size cutouts of men, women and children who have been killed, Curtis said.
In 2016 in Arkansas, 24 women, four men and three children were murdered because of domestic abuse, according to the Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
“The statistics are getting worse,” said Lori Dodson,
president of the Women Shelter of Central Arkansas Board of Directors. She said that in 2016, one in four women were affected by domestic violence; this year, it’s one in three.
“It’s too many,” she said.
The Conway shelter, which started in 1995, has 18 women and children living there now, Curtis said. Dodson said it costs $76 per day to house one person.
“The women’s shelter being a secret place, it’s harder to raise funds,” Dodson said.
Curtis said it’s getting harder, too.
“We just found out this week a grant we have been getting through Domestic Peace will go down $9,000 this year,” Curtis said. “That was a surprise because it has consistently been around $18,000, $19,000. It’s one of the few grants that can be used for operating expenses; it doesn’t have a lot of limitations like other grants do.”
Dodson said she wants people to know more about the Women’s Shelter of Central Arkansas’ services, be aware of domestic violence and look for it.
The evening will include a silent auction, live music and food. Curtis said auction items are still coming in, and they include jewelry; tickets to the Conway Symphony, Murry’s Dinner Playhouse and University of Central Arkansas football games; and a purple purse designed by actress Kerry Washington through the Allstate Purple Purse Challenge.
“We still need sponsors and silent-auction items,” Curtis said. Tables of six are $275, and businesses can be sponsors for $500, which includes two complimentary tickets.
Tickets are $50 each in advance or $75 at the door. They are available online at eventbrite.com; search for Risen From Silence. For more information, contact board member Barbara Jackson at bjackson72@me.com or call (479) 857-0715.
The domestic-violence hotline is (501) 329-2255.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.