Victims of family violence remembered

By Virginia Ross

The shelter receives between 800 and 1,000 crisis and referral calls a year.

LISBON — Linda Cormany said she hears voices.

She said some are crying, whispering and screaming, often echoing her own story of a woman beaten and bruised, wounded and tormented by a man she had once loved and trusted.

The voices cause her to remember why she continues pursuing a passion of helping other victims of domestic violence.

“It’s about getting out, leaving, but it’s also about looking for a way to stay gone,” Cormany explained to a group of supporters gathered Thursday morning at the Christina House in Lisbon.

Cormany is program developer for Ozer Ministries of East Palestine, which provides Christian counseling and other services, and assistant to the chaplain at East Liverpool City Hospital. She, along with about 100 other domestic-violence victims, their loved ones and supporters, launched purple balloons into the skies over Lisbon Square on Thursday as a way to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The balloon launch, which is in its 11th year, provides victims, their families and supporters with a means to express the pain associated with domestic violence. Participants write the names of individuals whose lives have been impacted by domestic violence on a card attached to the balloon. Names include victims whose deaths have resulted from domestic violence, individuals living in a domestic violence situation or survivors.

“It’s a way to remember, and to lift them up in prayer,” explained Beth Schmitt, program manager at Christina House. “It’s a way to send them off to the heavens, to God.”

Christina House serves as Catholic Charities Regional Agency’s domestic violence shelter. The shelter was named after St. Christina, who was also a victim of violence primarily at the hands of her father.

The shelter can house up to 12 women and children at a time. Schmitt said the shelter has served 1,345 victims and their children since it opened a little more than 10 years ago.

The shelter receives between 800 and 1,000 crisis and referral calls a year, she noted.

The shelter provides legal advocacy, supervised visitation, crisis outreach and case management, among other services.

For more information about the shelter, its services or activities, call (330) 420-0036.