Houston and Harris County leaders, nonprofits and advertisers launch multi-language domestic-violence awareness campaign

Councilmember Twila Carter announced a multi-part domestic-violence awareness campaign at an event hosted with the Texas Council on Family Violence and city and county leaders, unveiling billboards, stickers and a web landing page designed to direct people to immediate help and local resources.

The campaign, Carter said, will use stickers with QR codes and more than 100 billboards and digital placements across the region, and will launch materials in English and Spanish with plans to add Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean translations. "If you need immediate help, call 911," Carter said, describing the landing page at tcfv.org/okay and the two-step user flow that moves visitors to resources after acknowledging the initial prompt.

Gloria Terry, identified at the event as CEO of the Texas Council on Family Violence, summarized the council's latest "Honoring Texas Victims" report, describing it as the only comprehensive statewide analysis of domestic-violence homicides. Terry said the report found 205 Texans were killed by an intimate partner in the last year and that firearms were the single largest method of homicide recorded in the review: "We believe that each 1 of these homicides was knowable, identifiable, and preventable," she told attendees.

Terry said Harris County consistently leads statewide counts and urged officials to use the data to inform training, enforcement and prevention efforts. She also highlighted age findings — the youngest female victim recorded in the report was 15 and the oldest 88 — and warned that the time around separation from an abuser often represents heightened danger.

Harris County Commissioner Leslie Briones described local steps to expand access, including a Precinct 4 pilot dubbed the "I'm okay / Are you okay" program that will place QR-code resource toolkits at roughly 300 sites such as parks and community centers. Briones said Harris County has "approximately 380" shelter beds and cited recent federal ARPA investments for domestic-violence assistance and resiliency programs: "Approximately 5,000,000 was invested in ARPA funds in the domestic violence assistant fund," she said, adding nearly $1 million was directed to domestic-violence court dockets and about $6,000,000 to resiliency efforts targeted at children exposed to violence.

Jessica Anderson, executive assistant chief with the Houston Police Department, said domestic-violence incidents in Houston are up about 20% and account for roughly 10% of police reports; she added that approximately one in four Houston homicides since January were related to domestic violence. Anderson described HPD's DART (domestic-abuse response team), which pairs victim advocates with responding officers to help people access shelter, compensation and other immediate needs.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez urged stronger legal tools to remove firearms from high-risk people and described an existing county gun-surrender program established with the district attorney and judges as "modest" but expandable: "We need that here in our state," he said of red-flag laws, and called for broader courtroom coverage for surrender programs.

Private-sector partners pledged outreach support. Lee Vela, introduced at the event as a vice president of public affairs with Clear Channel Outdoor, said the advertising partnership will place the campaign across five counties and — through the Outdoor Advertising Association of Texas and member firms — extend to more than 100 Texas cities. "There is help, there is hope, there is a way out," Vela said, describing both traditional and digital billboards and a statewide rollout plan.

Representatives from the apartment sector said they will distribute materials and run training for leasing and property staff. Casey Morgan, who identified themself at the podium and said their group represents about 700,000 units, described a morning training that registered more than 60 property staffers.

Organizers closed by unveiling sample boards and asking attendees to take stickers to post in restrooms and community spaces: Carter urged "neighbors, friends, coworkers" to be aware of signs and to share resources. The initiative's next step is local rollout of pilot placements, expanded translations and coordination with law enforcement and service providers to channel callers to shelter beds, counseling and legal help.

The event included several policy asks — greater enforcement of protective orders, more training for prosecutors and officers, and advocacy for state-level red-flag legislation — but no formal votes or binding actions were taken at the launch.