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Victim Service Center asks OCPS staff and community to join annual Denim Day to support survivors
Summary
Louie Damiani, executive director of the Victim Service Center of Central Florida, asked the school board and guests to wear denim on Denim Day (last Wednesday in April) to raise awareness of sexual violence and promote support resources; he described local helpline and forensic exam response volume and provided outreach resources.
Louie Damiani, executive director of the Victim Service Center of Central Florida, addressed the Orange County School Board during the meeting’s opening recognitions to ask school staff, board members and community partners to participate in Denim Day, an annual awareness campaign held on the last Wednesday in April.
Damiani described the center’s services in Central Florida—covering Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties—saying his organization responds to victims in crisis, provides forensic-exam services and offers ongoing therapeutic sessions. He told board members the center handled 381 forensic responses and more than 2,000 calls to its 24-hour sexual-assault helpline last year, and provided “over 3,500 individual therapeutic sessions” in the prior year.
Participation in Denim Day is free, he said: community members can wear denim, post photos or videos using the #DenimDay hashtag, and follow the Victim Service Center’s social media to amplify the message. Damiani noted the organization makes campaign resources available at victimservicecenter.org, including printable posters and a short video explaining the day’s purpose.
Board chair Teresa Jacobs thanked Damiani and acknowledged the district’s ongoing recognition of the campaign; several board members and staff then worked to seat honorees and guests before the evening’s recognitions.
Ending: The board did not take formal action on the presentation; Damiani’s remarks were part of the meeting’s recognitions and public-information portion and the center’s resources were made available for staff and community use.
