HAWC unveils revised name, new logo

SALEM – The North Shore’s largest emergency shelter and counseling service is changing its name to better reflect its mission that now encompasses all victims of domestic abuse, not just women and children.HAWC, an abbreviation for Healing Abuse Working for Change, was formerly known throughout the region as Help for Abused Women and their Children. The organization today unveiled its new logo along with the name change.Tammie Call of Call Design in Merrimack, N.H. won the logo design contest and the $1,000 prize. Call created the original design that inspired HAWC’s new look, said Alicia Weaver, the organization’s assistant director of development.HAWC picked Oct. 1 to officially announce its name change because it’s the first day of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.For more 30 years, HAWC has been known as Help for Abused Women and their Children and for over 10 years HAWC’s logo depicted a woman and child walking together, Weaver explained.”The new name and the new logo reflect HAWC’s spirit of inclusion and community-wide advocacy,” said HAWC Executive Director Candace Waldron, noting that HAWC serves all individuals who are in abusive relationships – women, men and transgender individuals, adults, adolescents, senior citizens, gays, bisexual and heterosexual people, as well as those with children and those without.HAWC’s new name and logo capture the strength and resilience of survivors as they move out of fear and despair to hope and independence, said Weaver. The combination also captures HAWC’s two-fold mission: to support the healing process individuals and families go through as they work to free themselves from abuse and to change the social norms and individual behaviors that perpetuate violence and oppression, she said.Weaver added that community-wide knowledge about the tactics of perpetrators prepares everyone to recognize the warning signs of abuse and how to get help.”Domestic abuse takes many forms but its goal is always the same: to control one’s partner,” said Waldron.Tactics of control include emotional, physical, economic, social and sexual abuse. Name-calling, belittling, stalking, isolating one from family and friends, intimidation and threats of harm are all abusive whether they involve physical violence or not.Waldron also called attention to HAWC’s 24-hour toll-free hotline. “If you know someone whose partner is isolating them from family and friends or he or she is living in fear of their partner, please call,” she said.The hotline number is 800-547-1649.Contact and understanding from a person outside the abusive relationship is often the one most important lifeline for a person getting free from abuse, said Waldron, adding, “The more you know the more you see. You can become part of the solution.”HAWC provides free, comprehensive services to victims of domestic violence and their children in 23 cities and towns across the North Shore. In addition to the hotline and emergency shelter, it provides advocacy in courts, police departments and healthcare settings; trauma recovery counseling for adults and children; support groups; economic stability services; relocation and rental assistance; and prevention education in schools and communities.The HAWC staff and volunteers respond to thousands of individuals each year who reach out for help. For more about the organization, call 978-744-8552 or log on to www.hawcdv.org.