October 19th CT-ALIVE Clothing & Book Drive in West Hartford

The Never Going Back to Abuse Project of
CT-ALIVE will benefit from the proceeds of a Clothing and Book Drive on Saturday, October 19, 2013 to mark October
as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  In
cooperation with Charities of Hope of Hartford, the Connecticut Alliance for
Victims of Violence and Their Families, Inc. (CT-ALIVE) will hold the drive from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of
the Dillon Mailing and Printing, 114 Shield Street in West Hartford, across
from the Shield Street Post Office near New Britain Avenue.  


On that day, CT-ALIVE and Charities of Hope will accept gently used clothing as well as shoes, boots,coats, linens and comforters.  Also accepted will be books including hardcovers and paperbacks, CDs, DVDs, audio books and textbooks. Please no magazines, VHS tapes, catalogs or encyclopedias.


According to Susan
Omilian of West Hartford and CT-ALIVE Project Director, the Never Going Back to Abuse Project helps women who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault or other abuse

move from victim to survivor to “thriver.”


“The Never Going Back to Abuse Project builds on the life-saving work of domestic violence shelters and sexual assault crisis centers in this state,” Omilian says.  While the goal of those programs is to get the women safely out of abuse, she adds, “this project helps women stabilize their lives emotionally, financially and socially so that they will not return to an abusive relationship in the future.”


Through this project, CT-ALIVE, a non-profit organization, supports award-winning My Avenging Angel Workshops™ (www.myavengingangel.com) which Susan conducts as originator and facilitator. The workshops, provided free of charge, are based on the idea that “living well is the best revenge.” They are held in memory of Susan’s 19-year-old niece Maggie killed in October, 1999 by her ex-boyfriend. Susan helps other victims of abuse now reclaim their lives as Maggie could not.

Charities of Hope (www.charitiesofhope.org) is a Hartford

non-profit organization dedicated to giving back to the community through other non-profits that help those most in need by changing donated clothing or shoes
into a monetary gift to a charity. 


For more information about clothing drive, contact Susan Omilian at 860-236-2401 or ct-alive@comcast.net.  For more about CT-ALIVE, visit www.ct-alive.org.