As the coronavirus continues to spread across the country and the world, Americans are understandably frightened and filled with anxiety. The social distancing measures recommended by the CDC and the stay-at-home order issued by Governor Wolf for all of Pennsylvania can add to feelings of stress and isolation.
Blackburn Center provides essential services to our community, and we remain open in order to continue to provide these services. In this turbulent time, we are still here for you.
In order to comply with social distancing measures, our work schedules and locations have changed. We have also taken steps to ensure that we are providing services in a way that is consistent with CDC recommendations, such as temporarily ending services that involve a group of people, such as Trauma Process Yoga Group. We have also changed the way that we operate our emergency shelter for victims of intimate partner violence to allow for social distancing.
Our education team has been busy with online programming:
Though we can’t be IN a classroom with students, we can provide important information to them via virtual lessons through the various online platform that school districts in Westmoreland County are using.
We can still be “seen” doing our work on college campuses by continuing to work virtually with students in online classes and are developing in-person and online trainings for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Although we had to cancel our annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event, we’re creating opportunities for the Westmoreland County community – and beyond – to engage in our mission to end gender-based violence.
We are developing children’s programs to promote empathy, which will be available through Blackburn Center’s YouTube channel.
If you are looking for educational resources to share with your employees, colleagues, or others, you can contact us for electronic versions of our material.
Follow us on social media to see all that we have to offer!
During this time, we cannot accept donations of items for our shelter, to protect both our staff and the community as a whole. However, you can still shop for shelter items using our Amazon wishlist. Amazon will ship directly to us.
Monetary donations are especially appreciated during this time, as they allow us to allocate funds to the essential services that we continue to provide. You can make a donation via our website, or by mailing a check to:
Blackburn Center
P.O. Box 398
Greensburg, PA 15601
Through it all, we will continue to be there for anyone who needs us. Our mission remains the same: advocating for the rights of all individuals to live free from domestic and sexual violence and other forms of violence by eliminating the root causes of this violence and providing for the well-being and safety of survivors/victims.
If you need help, don’t hesitate to call us. Our hotline is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 1-888-832-2272. Trained crisis counselors are available to listen, and can provide information on our services. All of our services are free of charge and confidential. Calls to our hotline can also be anonymous.
Learn More: How We Can Help