The Queer Student Association and Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity hosted “Love Letters to Survivors” on Tuesday for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The organizations partnered with the Camellia Center for the event.
Attendees wrote letters to survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse. The letters, which expressed messages of sympathy and encouragement, will be shipped to domestic violence shelters across Alabama.
Logan Payne, social media organizer for URGE, said she hopes for the beginning of a relationship with the Camellia Center, and said the work URGE has done is “really important” to her.
“I think that it’s really important to be able to tell those people that there are people there for them despite what may be going on in their personal lives,” said Lilliana Cassells, a freshman majoring in marketing.
Cassells said it is important to let survivors of domestic violence know that they are not alone and that there are people out there who do care about them.
Alex Huddleston, President of URGE and ambassador for the Camellia Center, said that though dealing with the lasting trauma of domestic violence can be difficult, she hopes that the organizations will be able to make a difference in an individual’s life through the letters sent to the shelters.
“I hope anyone who reads this, knows that they aren’t alone,” she said. “No matter what they’re going through, they can overcome it. You are never bound by your experiences.”
