Who We Are and How We Came to Be:
The Community of Faith Subcommittee of the Capital Area Domestic and Sexual Violence Coordinating Council (CADSVCC) was active for a few years in the late 1990s, but then stopped meeting for several years. In 2006 it was re-activated by Bonnie Nicholas (a former master level social work intern at MSU Safe Place 2004-05, and at MCADSV 2005-06) because of her interest in the intersection of faith and relationship violence. The goal of the committee was to increase connections and build collaborative relationships between faith communities and those working in the field of domestic and sexual violence. Several educational events for pastors and ministry leaders were hosted by the committee.
In 2009 The "Faith Committee" received a capacity building grant from the Power of We Consortium. This allowed the committee to take the next step to become organized as Open Eyes of Faith, a 501 C 3 tax exempt organization.
In 2010 we began to develop the Leadership Partner
Program. The goal is to train leadership partners; people from individual congregations who will be equipped:
--To provide a compassionate and understanding response to those who have been touched by relationship abuse
--To be able to refer people who need additional help to community resources
--To keep the congregation informed about opportunities for taking action to end relationship abuse
Open Eyes of Faith meets monthly on the 4th Thursday
You are invited to come be a part of our future