SEQUIM — Each of the red silhouettes carries a tragic story:
• 2004: Sequim’s Noelle Standard, 34, is shot to death by her estranged husband, Rockie Staneart, 46, who then turns the gun on himself as police officers approach him.
• 2004: Amber Rae Bulus-Steed, 26, a Sequim mother of two, is beaten and choked to death by her boyfriend, Nathan Hipsher, 25, who is now serving a 34-year prison term for second-degree murder.
• 2008: Christin Stock, a 35-year-old Port Angeles mother of two, dies in a murder-suicide shooting at the hand of her stalker ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Calvert.
While it has been awhile since domestic violence has led to murder in Clallam County, “it’s not a problem that is going away,” Jennifer Jewell said.
Jewell, a counselor with Healthy Families of Clallam County, and Leslie Bond, program manager for the agency’s domestic violence and sexual assault division, staffed an information table Thursday with a host of red figures as a backdrop at a “silent witness” display.
Each figure represented a death somewhere in the state because of domestic violence.
About 20 people attended a noon vigil to remember the victims.
The keynote speaker was Sequim Detective Sean Madison.
Port Angeles attorney Mark Baumann was the keynote speaker at the Port Angeles vigil, held at The Gateway center Wednesday.
Healthy Families of Clallam County presented “gratitude awards” — which honor those who have worked hard against domestic violence — at both rallies.
In Port Angeles, awards were given to the Soroptimist International — Jet Set, Port Angeles Police Officer Mike Johnson and Cpl. Bob Enzer, and Detective Stacy Sampson with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
In Sequim, a gratitude award was given to Soroptimist International of Sequim.
The exhibit goes to Peninsula College, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., in Port Angeles, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today. No ceremonies are planned.
Shelter given
Bond said domestic violence “bed nights” — meaning nights that people were given shelter from violence at home — in Clallam County totaled 7,315 from July 2009 to June 2010.
The number represents 139 women, 135 children and three men.
From July 2009 to June 2010, Healthy Families of Clallam County served 254 victims of domestic violence. Ninety-six were from Sequim, she said.
This year has seen 76 domestic violence-related deaths nationwide, compared with 44 in 2009, Bond cited.
The victims range from a 13-week-old baby to teen girls and mothers.
Bond said Healthy Families will continue exhibits in years to come “to raise awareness.”
Healthy Families’ Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Program has a free 24-hour crisis line staffed by trained volunteers and staff at 360-452-4357.
Other services include crisis counseling, assistance with protection orders and court paperwork, a weekly support group for men and women, psycho-educational-based support groups for at-risk adolescents, an emergency shelter, therapeutic support groups, a nonoffending parents group, individual therapy for adults, teens and children healing from rape or sexual abuse, community education and prevention, public school sessions to education children about domestic violence and sexual assault, and a speaker bureau.
To reach Healthy Families, phone 360-452-3811 or visit www.healthyfam.org.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
