Movers for Moms program helps domestic violence victims on Mother’s Day
Photo courtesy Two Men And A Truck
Two Men And A Truck (TMAAT) had a successful Movers for Moms event with a total of 3,049 personal care items delivered to Hope House shelter Thursday.
“We are so blessed to be able to give back to Hope House, since we weren’t able to do it last year in 2020, and hope all moms have a wonderful Mother’s Day this upcoming Sunday,” says Miranda Marshall, TMAAT community relations specialist.
Movers for Moms is a national giving program that spreads all the way across the U.S. and into Canada aimed at assisting mothers in need. In 2019, Movers for Moms collected more than 383,000 items and over 1 million items have been donated throughout the program’s 12-year history.
Hope House Chief Executive Officer MaryAnne Metheny says this movement has made a large impact on so many people in dire situations.
“For those people to know that there are people out there that care about them, it just really is very uplifting, and really can make a very, very difficult time better because they know that there are people that are thinking about them,” Metheny says.
According to Hope House, domestic violence can happen to anyone, regardless of gender, socioeconomic background, race, ethnicity, age, or any other aspect of diversity. Domestic violence can be exhibited in a variety of ways including emotional, physical, and financial abuse.
TMAAT has helped Hope House in the past with moving people in and out of Hope House. Victims of domestic violence often come to Hope House with nothing besides the clothes they are wearing and have to start their lives over from scratch. Donations from drives like Movers for Moms help Hope House give free personal care products so it can be one less thing to worry about. Metheny says work done at Hope House can be the difference between life and death.
“We hear stories and comments from people about how coming and getting services is life-changing for them and that they’re able to break that cycle of violence that has been in their lives,” Metheny says. “And they’re able to start new and often we have people tell us that if they hadn’t been able to get services, they don’t know that they would have survived.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented many victims of domestic violence from getting the resources they need. Many people may have a child or a couple of children and desperately need these resources to help them get back on their feet.
Metheny wants the community to know there are many services available if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence. There are multiple shelters in the Kansas City metro area that work together and the domestic violence hotline 816-HOTLINE is available 24 hours a day. This hotline through the Kansas City, Missouri police department provides free information on housing, financial aid, medical aid, counseling services, and shelters.
“Maybe you don’t need the safety of shelter but you need some kind of therapy services or other services that we provide so I would really like to encourage people to know that none of us have ever closed,” Metheny says.
If you or your organization is interested in supporting the Movers for Moms program as a collection site or would like to donate items locally please email Movers4Moms@twomen.com.
