This year I am hoping to raise money to help multiple charities that work with children and women as well as others who face abuse.
This is a problem that I understand on a very personal level. I am incredibly passionate about trying to bring forth real change that can also teach the flaws we have in our court systems, to the public.
On July 28th, 2022 a mother and daughter were murdered senselessly as the other children in the home watched in horror and tried to hide. The Mother had a restraining order that had just expired, the man was out on bond and had made several threats to the family. When the mother asked the judge to reinstate the restraining order it was not done. I start with the biggest question of all, why? Why would the restraining order not be kept active? This man not only was a predator with a history of sexual abuse against a minor but domestic violence against women. He had a long history with the court systems and yet was able to act out on his threats. Here is my next question, why was this man allowed to have his gun? By Colorado's probation laws, he was supposed to remand the weapons he had. Why didn't the probation officer go to the house and remove the firearms? Why didn't they arrest him for violating the probation and not turning in the weapons? There is no excuse for this lack of action or protection. The courts continuously fail thousands of innocent people daily in regards to this very serious problem in our systems. The police can only do so much, millions of dollars are wasted on the arrests and recidivism-- a cycle that the courts don't know how to handle and refuse to actually take the steps to prevent. The Judicial system makes lots of revenue off of what the courts call "frequent flyers". Meanwhile, people who are undereducated in regards to mental health and domestic violence tend to shame the victims of these crimes instead of actually understanding the base root of these issues. Why is it up to a victim of violence, forced to be put in a more risky situation by having to press charges and testify in court, only to have these violent criminals bond out? How is that the law or courts protecting victims? The shelter options that are given to victims are absolutely awful and over crowed with a multitude of diffrent people with all kinds of situations.
How is that appropriate to take care of children and victims of violence? It exposes children to even more trauma and rips them from the stability they need in their lives. Meanwhile the people who commit these unspeakable acts get their bond and just continue their abusive patterns. The Probation system is horrendously flawed, a money pit that not only doesn't protect the victims but allows continued recidivism. We can do so much more to change the laws if we would actually pay attention to how the judicial system is failing.
This year I kick off my first charity work by donating proceeds of my art made to different small companies who protect children and victims. Also, to the people who work hard to get bills put together to speak before congress, as well as the youth led advocacy organization Colorado Youth Congress. I also would like to donate proceeds to the family I wrote about above, people tend to think that a short term amount of money makes everything all better. Fact is, it will take years of therapy and lots of support to help the surviving children and grandmother who has to take care of them. Thank you all so much for your time and your donations/purchases. Together we can be the change we seek! Let's start to spread more information and start holding the courts and its flawed systems accountable!