October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and in observance organizations dedicated to eradicating the problem of domestic abuse have joined together for a number of events and activities they hope will raise awareness and increase community involvement in the fight to end domestic violence. Across the country, and the state of Massachusetts, victims, public officials, support groups and others will join together to stop the violence and lend a helping hand to those affected by it.

One such group dedicated to ending domestic violence is the Boston-based Casa Myrna Vazquez. The organization is a bilingual, multicultural organization offering outreach and education to women who find themselves in such abusive relationships. Casa Myrna Vazquez offers assistance to the women and children who face such cruelty at the hands of their loved ones with a variety of programs including emergency shelter services that act as the first step on the arduous journey to a safe and stable living environment.

In addition to an emergency shelter program, the group also provides transitional living assistance, a program that offers longer term housing for women and their children as they attempt to rebound from the trauma of the life they have left behind. The program offers victims access to resources that will allow them to gain vocational and educational skills and become self-reliant.

The organization began in 1977 as a single shelter that accommodated a mere eight families, and today it has grown in to New England’s chief provider of shelter and other services to abused women and children. Casa Myrna Vazquez also operates a 24/7 statewide domestic violence hotline, known as SafeLink (877-785-2020).