Representatives from Pawnee Mental Health, the Crisis Center, Sunflower CASA, and the Riley County Attorney’s Office were present for a noon ceremony Friday at the Riley County Courthouse Plaza. The annual event recognized domestic Violence Awareness Month, with silhouettes of Kansas victims of domestic homicide.
Adam Johnson with Pawnee Mental Health read the names of victims during the noon hour observance, and shared with KMAN following the event the real reason for the event, which is to remember why they do all the work they do with victims and offenders.
Judy Davis, Executive Director of the Crisis Center in Manhattan, was obviously moved by the program. She says it gives them a chance to grieve but also is a moment when each of them makes a renewed commitment to make it stop.
Jayme Morris-Hardeman, who serves as Executive Director of Sunflower CASA, admits it’s an emotional event. But Morris-Hardeman indicates the silhouettes of victims is an appropriate way to remember them.
The event has been going on in Riley county for about a decade.
