SAN ANTONIO – Rosemary Williams says you can’t go too far on the West Side of San Antonio without finding someone who would be willing to help you.
As the executive director of Big Mama’s Safe House, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping mitigate gun violence and domestic violence, she says coming to someone with a problem can be difficult.
“Growing up in a family that, you know, you just go to school, ‘but don’t say anything. We know that the police were here last night, but don’t talk about it.’ You know, breaking that stigma,” Williams said.
Big Mama’s Safe House, along with several other community nonprofit resource organizations, met on Saturday to host a domestic violence prevention resource fair.
“We’re here to create conversations and connect. So we’re doing that today. I’m excited about it. It’s going to take all of us to help,” Williams said.
Williams says most domestic violence cases the nonprofit sees go unreported, and it’s important to create a long-term welcoming environment where one can eventually feel comfortable talking about a domestic violence situation. One of the best ways to do that, she says, is by working with other community partners to offer all kinds of resources.
“We just believe in making sure that people have the resources they need. So let’s say that they’re leaving a violent situation; they will not always have the items that they need,” said Eva Lopez with the Texas Diaper Bank. “You may not know where to start. And so maybe talking with one agency leads you to talk to another agency because they’ll get that word-of-mouth”.
Williams hopes that caring for her neighborhood can help break generational cycles of abuse and trauma.
“If that’s all they [kids] know, we have to teach them that there’s a better way, that there are boundaries, and that no means no and enough is enough,” Williams said. “We have to talk about it, and we want to get back to you. It takes a village, so we want to be here right here to say that help is not on the way. It’s here”.