October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, with a goal of alerting people to problem affecting families here in the Treasure Valley.
"Every person's experience can be entirely unique, but at the heart of it, there's that desire to control and manipulate one person," said executive director of Women's and Children's Alliance Beatrice Black.
It doesn't always come with physical signs.
"The I don't like your haircut, or why are you wearing those kind of clothes, and so very slowly destroying someone's sense of self confidence," said Black.
One way the Women's and Children's alliance is bringing awareness is through Project Clothesline. People who've experienced domestic violence paint their feelings on T-shirts, which can be therapeutic. Local businesses like Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters display them to start a conversation.
"Bringing awareness to it makes it less acceptable socially," said barista Arlo Jones.
They received the shirts last week and plan to keep serving up coffee and support.
"When you're going through a tough time, a lot of times you feel alone, and being able to see that people go through the same struggles, it doesn't make it alright but it makes you know there's support out there," said Jones.
Some of the T-shirts were hung up at the annual SueB Memorial 5k, which honors the life lost of a local woman subject to domestic violence. While the T-shirts take up a small amount of window space, their impacts can be huge.
"We've had people call us afterwords and say, 'you know I had a staff member who saw the t-shirt and came and disclosed that they were going through something. They never would have done it if they didn't see the t-shirt," said Black.
At the end of the month, T-shirts are collected back but abuse survivors are able to get help and paint the shirts all year round.
Domestic Violence Hotline: 208-343-7025
Sexual Assault Crisis Hotline: 208-345-7273
