Every April Healthy Alternatives to Violent Environments (HAVEN) hosts “In Their Shoes.” This walk raises awareness for Sexual Assault Awareness Month and funds for HAVEN’s support of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Human Trafficking survivors in Stanislaus County.

This past year has been a lot. There were federal funding uncertainties, concerns about impact to the people we serve, at a lot of fear we had to navigate.

And yet, HAVEN is still here. HAVEN is still working as hard as we can to assist survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking in finding paths to safety. And HAVEN has stayed true to our values of inclusion, continuing to serve all survivors regardless of immigration status, gender, or gender identity. HAVEN strives to see ALL of who a survivor is and never wants them to feel they have to hide any of it. HAVEN believes:

• All survivors should be treated with dignity and respect
• Survivors of ANY gender should feel they have a safe place with us, where they will be seen and accepted.
• Survivors who are immigrants, especially if they are undocumented, need to know there is a safe place to go to be free from abuse.
• Survivors should have control over their bodies and reproductive choice.

If you believe those things too and want to support HAVEN it its work, please help me reach my page goal of $1,000. You can also help by sharing our donation page with anyone you know who wants those values kept in Stanislaus County.