Lycoming County commissioners on Thursday proclaimed October 2025 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and heard leaders from the YWCA describe large local demand for shelter and prevention services.

The proclamation, read at the start of the commissioners' public meeting, recognized the national designation first declared by the U.S. Congress in 1988 and cited statewide figures included in the county text. The proclamation urged citizens, schools, businesses and community agencies to "stand with survivors, honor those we have lost, and work together to end domestic violence in our community."

Why it matters: YWCA officials told the commissioners the county still needs more prevention education in schools, additional staff for outreach and ready shelter capacity for families fleeing violence. Amber Morinstar, identified in the meeting as the YWCA executive director, said the organization provided "life saving support to more than 1,700 individuals" over the past year, that its hotline rang more than 1,500 times, and that the agency invested "over $160,000 to help 50 families rebuild their lives." She said most of the shelter stays are last‑resort placements for people who have nowhere else to go.

During the public presentation, YWCA prevention educator Shontay Hall described the agency's school outreach and digital‑abuse curriculum, and the limits of current staffing. "My name is Shontay Hall, and I am the prevention educator as well as the medical advocate here at the YWCA Williamsport," she said at the podium. She told commissioners that at one point in the prior week the YWCA had "35 women and 25 kids just in the 1 Floor of our building," underscoring acute shelter demand.

Commissioners and other speakers emphasized prevention and the role of courts and law enforcement in protecting victims. A commissioner described domestic violence as often manipulation and control, not only physical abuse; the official said he had handled domestic violence cases in probation work for nearly two decades and thanked YWCA and sheriff's staff for their work serving protection‑from‑abuse orders. Another commissioner urged more prevention education for youth, arguing that early curriculum could help break cycles of violence.

YWCA staff described specifics of prevention work in local schools: the agency runs programs from daycare through high school, provides teacher training so disclosures can be handled, and is invited into multiple districts. Hall and other speakers said funding limits the scale of prevention: the YWCA currently has one prevention educator and requests more staff to expand school programs.

The proclamation text included national and state statistics quoted in the read document: a national estimate of the annual economic cost of domestic violence cited as between $6 billion and $13 billion, and Pennsylvania figures that more than 90,000 people seek help from local programs annually and that 119 Pennsylvanians lost their lives to domestic violence in 2024. The proclamation was presented on behalf of the commissioners and signed at the meeting.

The meeting closed the item with an invitation: the YWCA noted a community domestic violence vigil scheduled for Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. at the YWCA.

The presentation combined formal action (the commissioners' proclamation) with discussion and requests for ongoing prevention funding and expanded school outreach. The commissioners did not adopt new county policy or a new funding appropriation during the meeting; YWCA staff asked the county to continue community partnership and public recognition of prevention needs.