The West Hartford Clothing and Book Drive will benefit women who have been abused.

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The “Never Going Back to Abuse Project” of CT-ALIVE will benefit from the proceeds of a “Clothing and Book Drive” on Saturday, April 22, 2017, to mark April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

In cooperation with Charities of Hope of Hartford, the Connecticut Alliance for Victims of Violence and Their Families, Inc. (CT-ALIVE) will hold the drive from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Price Rite Shopping Plaza, 983 New Britain Ave., West Hartford, near Shield Street Post Office.

On that day, CT-ALIVE and Charities of Hope will accept gently used adult and children’s clothing as well as shoes, boots, coats, linens, and comforters as well as jewelry, purses, and small household goods. Also accepted will be books including hardcovers and paperbacks, CDs, DVDs, audio books and textbooks. Please no magazines, VHS tapes, catalogs or encyclopedias.

According to Susan Omilian of West Hartford and CT-ALIVE Project Director, the Never Going Back to Abuse Project helps women who have experienced sexual assault, domestic violence or other abuse move from victim to survivor to “thriver.”

“The Never Going Back to Abuse Project builds on the life-saving work of domestic violence shelters and sexual assault crisis centers in this state,” Omilian says. While the goal of those programs is to get the women safely out of abuse, she adds, “this project helps women stabilize their lives emotionally, financially and socially so that they will not return to an abusive relationship in the future.”

Through this project, CT-ALIVE, a non-profit organization, supports the award-winning My Avenging Angel Workshops (www.myavengingangel.com) which Omilian conducts as originator and facilitator. The workshops, provided free of charge, are based on the idea that “living well is the best revenge.” They are held in memory of Omilian’s 19-year-old niece Maggie killed in October, 1999 by her ex-boyfriend. Omilian helps other victims of abuse now reclaim their lives as Maggie could not.

Charities of Hope (www.charitiesofhope.org) is a Hartford non-profit organization dedicated to giving back to the community through other non-profits that help those most in need by changing donated clothing or shoes into a monetary gift to a charity.

For more information about clothing drive, contact Susan Omilian at 860-236-2401 or [email protected].  For more about CT-ALIVE, visit www.ct-alive.org.