'PEOPLE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT IT': Shelter hosts domestic violence awareness march

October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the Shelter for Abused Women and Children marched in honor of victims from Collier County in Immokalee Monday evening.

Shirts hang on a clothesline in the lobby of The Shelly Stayer Shelter and represent women impacted from violence.

People who stay at the Immokalee shelter made the shirts with quotes of empowerment such as, "no más violencia".

The Shelter's Prevention Supervisor Melinda organized the project and several other events across Collier County this month.

Monday evening they walked in the first annual March to End Domestic Violence in Immokalee.

"The fact that we're able to have the march here to...create awareness that domestic violence is still here," Melinda said.

She mentioned what happened in Immokalee last fall.

The Sheriff's Office says Immokalee mother, Laura Candida, was killed by her ex-boyfriend.

The Shelter's Immokalee Outreach Manager Norma Rodriguez said the march honors Laura and the 80 lives lost from domestic violence in Collier County since 1993.

Rodriguez said, "It's very important for them to see us, especially advocating for domestic violence to end domestic violence, so I think it's something very important."

Watch Immokalee Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades report below:

Rodriguez grew up in Immokalee and loves that she can provide resources that didn't exist years ago.

"It was very shameful. People didn't talk about it, culturally Hispanic and Haitian Creole culture, so people just don't talk about it. It's things that happen behind closed doors, and, unfortunately, for a long time no one was doing anything about it," she added.

The Shelly Stayer shelter opened in 2020 and offers services in Spanish and Creole. It can house 60 people, and there's space for children and pets.

They'll never turn away a family in need Rodriguez said..

To end the cycle of domestic violence, the shelter prioritizes education and awareness.

Rodriguez said, "If we don't educate our children and the public, then, it's one of these things that it's a behavior that's going to continue and it's not going to stop."

As a part of prevention work, Melinda does educational sessions on domestic violence at local schools. She emphasized that domestic violence is not only physical abuse. It includes emotional, mental, financial abuse and more.

Because when you break the silence like a participant wrote on one of the shirts in the lobby "from the concrete who knew a flower could grow."

If you or someone you know needs help, call the shelter's hotline at (239) 775-1101. Find more information on the shelter's resources here.