Mayor Isaac Hodges read a city proclamation on Oct. 13 declaring October 2025 Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Brookings, urging residents to support survivor services and community programs.

Rachel Espie, executive director of the SAFE Project, accepted the proclamation and described services the agency provided in Curry County after expanding there in July 2024. ‘‘For the first six months after we started serving Curry County in July 2024, we provided services to 129 survivors,’’ Espie said, listing the agency’s recorded contacts and supports.

Espie told the council those contacts included 94 instances of information, referral and housing support; 21 instances of personal advocacy and accompaniment (such as hospital accompaniment or law-enforcement interviews); 12 instances of criminal and civil-justice advocacy, 132 instances of emotional support and safety planning; housing for seven survivors and 70 bed nights in shelters or hotels; and 91 contacts on the SAFE Project’s 24/7 crisis line during that six-month period.

She also said SAFE Project opened an emergency shelter in Gold Beach and that the agency plans to report back to Brookings on services for 2025. The mayor and council thanked the SAFE Project and posed for photos after the proclamation.

Why it matters: City leaders said the proclamation is intended to raise awareness of intimate-partner violence and local resources for survivors. The council’s proclamation echoed language in the SAFE Project materials noting national unmet need for services.

Next steps: SAFE Project will return with updated 2025 figures, and the city will continue to publicize survivor services and community awareness activities.