October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and this year the urgency feels impossible to ignore.
In recent months, Somerset County has mourned lives lost to violence. Across the country, public debate has surrounded the execution of Christa Pike and renewed attention to cases like the Cornell 57. While these situations differ in circumstance, they force us to confront the same uncomfortable truth: violence does not exist in isolation. It emerges from a complex web of trauma, abuse, power, neglect, hopelessness, and systems that often intervene too late.
At Safe+Sound Somerset, we know domestic violence is not simply a private family matter. It is a public health crisis, a community safety issue, and a generational trauma that impacts children, families, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and entire communities. As I have shared before, if we continue to focus only on behavior and not the root causes of trauma, we will continue treating symptoms while violence grows around us.
The need is real and growing. Requests for services at Safe+Sound Somerset have increased by 45% over the last three years, and our Safe House has rarely had an empty bed since 2021. Survivors are reaching out every day seeking safety, healing, and hope.
This October, I call on Somerset County leaders, policymakers, businesses, educators, healthcare providers, and residents to join us in building a more holistic response to violence. Invest in prevention. Fund trauma-informed services. Support survivors. Create pathways to healing before tragedy occurs.
Violence thrives in silence and division. Safety grows through connection, compassion, accountability, and action. The question is not whether violence affects all of us. It does. The question is what each of us will do about it.
Michele Boronkas, MSW
President & CEO
Safe + Sound Somerset
Somerville, NJ
