For many survivors, reaching safety is not a single moment. It is a process that can involve navigating risk, making difficult decisions, connecting with multiple systems, and finding the right support at the right time.

At the Rose Andom Center, our work has always extended beyond responding to an immediate crisis. We also believe in asking difficult questions about how our community can recognize danger earlier, strengthen our collective response, and prevent violence from escalating.

In 2022, that commitment to prevention and collaboration remained an essential part of our work.

Beyond the direct services survivors receive at the Rose Andom Center, our team works alongside law enforcement, healthcare professionals, advocates, service providers, and other community partners to better understand the patterns and circumstances surrounding domestic violence.

One important part of that work is the coordination of fatality review efforts.

Fatality review brings professionals from different systems together to carefully examine domestic violence-related deaths, identify patterns and gaps, and consider what our community can learn from these tragedies. The purpose is not simply to look backward. It is to use what we learn to strengthen the systems survivors may encounter in the future.

Every case can reveal important information.

Were there warning signs that could have been recognized earlier? Were there opportunities for intervention? Did different agencies have pieces of information that, when viewed together, could have created a clearer picture of risk? Were there barriers that made it more difficult for someone to access help?

These are difficult questions, but they are necessary ones.

Domestic violence is complex, and no single organization, profession, or system can address it alone. A survivor may interact with healthcare providers, law enforcement officers, advocates, attorneys, courts, social service agencies, or other community organizations at different points in their journey. Each interaction can represent an opportunity to recognize risk, provide information, connect someone with resources, or help create a path toward greater safety.

That is why collaboration matters.

By bringing professionals together across disciplines, the Rose Andom Center helps create opportunities for shared learning and stronger coordination. Different partners bring different perspectives, experiences, and areas of expertise to the table. Together, they can identify patterns that may be difficult to see in isolation and explore ways to improve how our community responds.

This work often happens quietly, behind the scenes.

There may not be a single moment that captures its impact. Instead, progress can take the form of stronger communication between agencies, improved practices, better recognition of risk factors, more informed responses, and deeper collaboration among the professionals who encounter survivors throughout our community.

This work is quiet. It is complex. And it can save lives.

At its heart, prevention is about learning and acting on what we know.

It is about recognizing that warning signs matter. It is about helping professionals understand the risks associated with domestic violence and ensuring they have the knowledge and connections necessary to respond. It is about strengthening systems so that when a survivor reaches out for help, the people and organizations they encounter are better prepared to recognize the seriousness of their situation and connect them with meaningful support.

It is also about acknowledging that preventing domestic violence-related fatalities requires a community-wide response.

No one agency has every answer. No single intervention can address every circumstance. But when law enforcement, healthcare professionals, advocates, service providers, and community organizations share knowledge and work together, we can build a more coordinated response focused on survivor safety.

This systems-level work reflects the same philosophy that led to the creation of the Rose Andom Center years earlier: we are stronger when we work together.

Just as the Center brought services together under one roof so survivors would not have to navigate disconnected systems alone, our prevention work brings professionals together to examine how those systems can become more responsive, informed, and connected.

As we reflect on ten years of the Rose Andom Center, 2022 represents an important part of our evolution. Our work continued to reach beyond the walls of the Center and into the broader systems that shape how our community understands and responds to domestic violence.

Every lesson learned has the potential to inform a future response.

Every strengthened partnership can create another opportunity for intervention.

Every improvement in how we recognize and respond to risk can help build a safer community for survivors and their families.

Your support strengthens this work. It helps make possible not only the direct services survivors rely on, but also the collaboration, coordination, and systems-level efforts designed to improve our community’s response to domestic violence.

Together, we are working toward a future where warning signs are recognized earlier, barriers to support are reduced, professionals are better equipped to respond, and survivors have more opportunities to connect with help before violence escalates.

As we celebrate the Rose Andom Center’s 10th anniversary, we are honoring every part of this work, including the important efforts that often happen outside of public view.

On October 17, we invite you to join us at the Rose Andom Center’s 10th Anniversary Gala as we recognize the survivors, staff, partners, advocates, donors, and community members who have helped strengthen our response to domestic violence over the past decade.

Together, we will reflect on what we have learned, honor the lives and experiences that continue to inform this work, and recommit ourselves to building a safer future for survivors and our entire community.