LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – Faith House of Acadiana is helping people affected by domestic violence by doing a "Purple Light Project for the month of October. They are requesting people replace their porch bulb with a purple bulb. 

“This is kind of just another thing to raise awareness and bring the community together to all stand up because there’s always going to be a need to advocate for those who can’t,” said Ella Wolfe, the Development Coordinator at Faith House of Acadiana. “Domestic violence doesn’t have to be a bad word; it can be something absolutely talked about and made aware of.”

Moreover, she said, “In the United States, every nine seconds, a woman is battered and then across-the-board to about 4 to 6 kids in each classroom witnesses violence in the home and then as far as the housing situation 50% of the women and children who are homeless are homeless due to domestic violence.” 

She said there are common signs to look out for when someone enters a new relationship where domestic violence starts with mental and emotional abuse. Then, it escalates to physical abuse. 

“It starts all very well. That’s one thing people don’t fully understand. It wasn’t always bad; domestic violence is something that escalates,” She said. “The control of another person. It involves power and control, so just a lot of red flags, fast involvement, jealousy, kind of disguise as care, always wanting to know where the other person is at all times, and it just slowly turns into a form of control.” 

Wolfe says that domestic violence does not discriminate against age, race, financial status, or employment. “Anybody can fall victim to it. It has nothing to do with anybody’s intelligence or any of that; it is just tricky, and abusers are tricky, and they’re good. Education is important so you can look out for some of those red flags,” she said. 

She mentioned there are some myths about people getting abused. “People depicted domestic violence as looking a certain way, to be with a particular type of person. They think only of drug users,” she said. “It's all sorts of statuses and education level, financial levels.” 

A message to anyone dealing with it, she said, “You don’t have to stay there. There are people to help. To help create a safety plan for you to leave. There are resources out there. We have resources! People stay for several reasons, and we try to accommodate those things that kind of hold people back and keep them in that abusive situation. We try to link them up with the resources to get them out of there.” 

If you would like to partake in the project, a $10 minimum donation, the organization will send you a purple lightbulb in the mail. You can buy them at your local stores as well. If you would like to support domestic violence awareness month another way you can also wear purple on Wednesdays. If you need help, call 337-210-5986 or 337-232-8954. 

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