COVINGTON, Ky. (WXIX) – A Tri-State program director is working to change the norms by creating a society where violence is not tolerated.
Christy Burch is CEO of the Covington-based ION Center For Violence Prevention.
From helping to intervene to being a conversation partner, Burch and ION are committed to making a difference in the lives of others.
“Everything that is important to us, our philosophies, the things that drive us, end up in ION. PreventioninterveneionCooperationionincludingIon, transformIon,” Burch explains: “Everything that drives us to end violence ends in this ION.”
Burch, who describes herself as a giver of hope, helps protect and care for people fleeing intimate partner violence, bullying, stalking and child abuse.
Burch says all of these things have been common in Kentucky over the years.
“We know that Kentucky has the second highest violence rate in the country,” Burch explains. “Forty-five percent of women experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime. That’s pretty extraordinary. The national average is 23.3 percent. So we know we have a lot of work to do in Kentucky.”
That work includes a program she helped develop called The Green Dot Bystander Strategy, which focuses on educating schools and businesses about the warning signs of abuse to give bystanders the tools and resources they need to take action and report anything unusual to help prevent future acts of violence.
For crisis intervention, Burch said the ION Center operates two 24-hour emergency shelters, a crisis hotline, legal representation for protective orders, free therapy and a pet kennel for those who must suddenly flee their homes.
Burch says her life as an activist was inspired in part by her own upbringing.
“My mother had an incredible experience with child abuse. I saw her strength and resilience firsthand and also felt a calling to prevent violence from being done to other people,” says Burch.
Burch says that over the course of her 27 years of work, she has seen the success of her efforts.
In schools that have introduced the Green Dot program, partner violence has fallen by 30 percent, she says.
This motivates them to advance their mission to protect others.
“For the people I love and care about, the world has to be different,” Burch explains. “I have a 12-year-old daughter, a 24-year-old niece and a 21-year-old nephew. I have to make the world different. The more we can create a safe community that thrives.”
The ION Center is located on Madison Avenue in Covington. You can visit their website or call 859-491-3335 if you or someone you know needs help.
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