Men Against Domestic Violence
Men Step Up in Chelsea
On February 27, 2003 the first "Men Step Up" event was co-sponsored by HarborCOV, The Chelsea Domestic Violence Task Force, The Care Community Network, Centro Latino and ‘The Crew'.
A community gathering for discussion and action planning, the event was a richly multicultural and bilingual (Spanish, English) gathering of 45 folks, with men and women equally represented. The meeting was highly participatory and action steps were developed as men 'stepped up' and were joined in their goals.
Developing Strategies
A men's group was formed in which participants will work through exploring their own experiences of violence and strategies for working 'from the inside out' and mutual support.
After a discussion including 6 male case workers from the Chelsea area DSS office, Fernando Mederos volunteered to work with them and with their coworkers to learn strategies for communicating effectively with males on their family caseload.
We will be doing new community education and organizing through the Chelsea Care Community Network and the Chelsea Domestic Violence Task Force. We discussed holding follow up workshops with the entire group to deepen our understanding and shared language around domestic violence and gender violence.
Two male Latino leaders acted as cofacilitators, Juan Carlos Arian, who has been performing domestic violence work with men in Western Massachusetts for many years, and Ray Wilshire, a Chelsea resident originally from Panama, who is a probation officer, pastor, and who is trained in batterer intervention. Both men have joined HarborCOV and representatives from Boston area communities of color to discuss the idea of men and women working together to end violence and improve our communities. This planning group, which has dubbed itself ‘The Crew', has now been meeting for over a year.
Draft Mission Statement:
'We are a Coalition led by men and women of color, residents and activists, united to support loving and healthy relationships. We value culture as a source of healing and strength. We are committed to using family and community resources to prevent violence in all its forms. We promote new leadership, community development and effective public policy to accomplish these goals.'
Over the next several months ‘The Crew' will be convening four similar meetings in Brockton, Lawrence and Boston to gauge interest and assess potential for a broad network of like-minded folks who want to support the leadership of men and women of color.
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