Sharing in a commitment to improve the quality of life for residents of the Washington, D.C. area, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation generously awarded $10,000 of general operating support to continue Break the Cycle’s critical work to prevent domestic and dating violence in the District of Columbia.
As you may know, teens experience abuse at higher rates than any other age group. One in three teens knows a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped, choked or physically hurt by dating partners.1 According to Centers for Disease Control, Washington, D.C. has one of the highest rates of teen dating violence in the country.2 In 2005, the Metropolitan Police Department received more than 27,000 domestic violence-related crime calls (one every 19 minutes) an increase of 22% over the past three years.3 DC Superior Court heard more than 8,000 domestic violence cases, an increase of 3.7% over the previous year.4
The one-year award from The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation will help Break the Cycle connect hundreds of DC teens and teen service providers with important information and tools to build safe, healthy relationships and homes. Funding will be used to increase accessibility to Break the Cycle’s life-saving prevention and early-intervention services, and strengthen our efforts to further promote the health and protect the rights of young people around issues of domestic and dating violence.
We truly appreciate the continued support of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and look forward to a rewarding year as Break the Cycle continues to grow to meet the need for domestic violence services among teens in the District of Columbia.
-Published on April 1, 2007