REGION- April was Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The River House of Graying headed the Clothesline Project in area laundromats.
Doing the laundry was always considered women’s work and in the days of close-knit neighborhoods, women often exchanged information over backyard fences while hanging their clothes out to dry.
The clothesline concept is simple – let each woman tell her story in her own unique way, using words and/or artwork to decorate her shirt. Once finished, she hangs her shirt on the clothesline. The clothesline becomes a healing tool for anyone who makes a shirt. By hanging the shirt on the line, survivors, friends, and family can literally turn their back on some of that pain of their experience and walk away. It can allow those who are still suffering in silence to understand that they are not alone.
There were an estimated 500 projects nationally and internationally with an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 shirts being hung for April’s awareness month.
This year, the River House of Grayling put up Clotheslines at Roscommon Cleaners and Laundry, Suds of St Helen, South Shore Laundromat, and Chasing Dreams, River House Resale.
A huge thank you to these local businesses for helping us spread awareness within our counties of service.
River House has a 24/7 crisis line for victims of Intimate Partner Domestic Violence or Sexual Assault. Please call 989-348-3169 or 888-554-3169, if someone needs their services.
