Local non-profit The Purple Door brought a display of encouragement and education for patrons of La Palmera Mall.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — While most patrons of La Palmera Mall gathered to peruse clothing stores or grab a bite in the food court, many were stopped in their tracks by a unique display.
This Domestic Violence Awareness Month, local non-profit The Purple Door brought a display of encouragement and education for patrons of La Palmera Mall.
This story continues below.
“I was reading some of the t-shirts, the one that’s printed on the t-shirts and it’s all about domestic violence. So, I was kind of aware, like, do people really see what’s going on around our community?” said Josie, one patron in the mall observing the display.
The Texas Council on Family Violence reported that 136 women have died from intimate partner violence.
The Purple Door curated its own installation of the nationwide Clothesline Project, an exercise for survivors and victims of domestic abuse.
“We have survivors who use it as a therapeutic tool to express their feelings, their healing, their pain, and their progress in their journey, but we also ask community partners, in support of survivors, to decorate shirts with messages to help them feel supported,” said Erika Reina-Brodag, The Purple Door Education & Outreach manager.
The artwork on each shirt combines the harsh reality of domestic violence with a positive and united display to provide survivors and victims’ with the courage to speak out.
“I would say that there’s a lot of positivity, not just from the victims, but from the community as well…and we do need a lot more community outreach to these things. Even though some people don’t want to be helped, and it’s hard for that to be processed for them, whether they want it or not,” said mall patron Rolando Nunez Jr.
He knew this all too well.
Nunez’s experience in the military exposed him to many victims who have found it hard to leave harmful situations.
“In the military, maybe it’s stress, maybe it’s depression, maybe it’s just something that they’re holding onto that they got to let go, or they need to talk to somebody just to get outside of what they’re going through,” Nunez said.
That’s why he was encouraged by the display and hopeful for the impact it will have on others.
“Maybe even seeing somebody else who went through it and hearing their experience and the help that comes with it would bring them out of that dark place …because it’s not really talked about, especially within the public or even at dinner tables with the family that does the same thing, you know, or behind closed doors. It’s always good to bring light into the darkness,” he said.
The various shirts of survivors and supporters will remain on display through October 31.
