Light Up the Lakefront 2023 program page

Beginning July 1, 2023, Between Friends received a 44% reduction in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding with additional cuts looming, threatening access to services to countless survivors and their children. Significant cuts to VOCA funding will mean fewer advocates and counselors available to provide healing-centered support, information, legal support and safety planning with survivors of domestic violence and their children. We have a goal to reach $70,000 by the end of October. Please consider joining our team or giving a donation to help support life-saving services! Any and every amount counts to help Between Friends help survivors in this time of need! 

Jenn Splinter, Between Friends Board President

Jenn’s Speech: Good evening and welcome to Light Up The Lakefront! My name is Jenn and I’m the President of Between Friends Board of Directors. I want to start by thanking you all for coming out tonight. It’s been four years since we last gathered here together by Lake Michigan. That’s a long time! I know many of you have stayed connected to us while we organized virtual events online over the past couple of years. But I want to take a moment to reintroduce you all to Between Friends. Between Friends is a Chicago-based nonprofit that provides free services to domestic violence survivors, including a toll-free Crisis Line, individual, group, and family counseling, and court advocacy. We also lead prevention and education efforts, including community education and our extensive teen dating violence prevention program, REACH. Our mission is to prevent domestic violence and to end the cycle of abuse by equipping our communities with the tools necessary for everyone to feel safe and equal in their relationships. This work matters. This agency matters. This year, as we mark our 28th annual Light Up the Lakefront, we thank you for joining us as we remember and honor those affected by domestic violence and ask you for your ongoing commitment to supporting domestic violence intervention and prevention. Currently, life-saving services are in jeopardy due to funding cuts for victim services. We have received a 44% reduction in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding with additional cuts looming, threatening access to services to countless survivors and their children. We need your help today to ensure that we can keep our services in operation for survivors and their loved ones. Please consider supporting Between Friends tonight through a donation to fund our healing-centered intervention and prevention services. You can make a difference, and no contribution is too small or insignificant. You can find out more about how to donate and get involved with Between Friends at the information table by the bike path and pedestrian walkway. Again, thank you for joining us this evening and thank you for honoring survivors of domestic violence. Now it’s my pleasure to introduce the Executive Director of Between Friends, Verda Bhatti.

Verda Bhatti, Executive Director

Verda’s speech: As the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” sets in; we at Between Friends start getting ready to mark the Domestic Violence awareness month by gathering for a vigil at North Avenue beach on October 1st. A tradition that we have upheld for more than two decades. As the staff, clients and community of Between Friends gather, we light candles as a remembrance for those we lost, as a tribute to those who continue their journey, and a pledge to help those who are still deeply impacted by the cycle of Violence and abuse and need our help. The terrifying reality of Domestic Violence is that Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten. On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to approximately 12 million adults and over 19 million children affected every year by domestic violence. One way or the other we are all impacted by this; so let us all do something to change this reality for a better tomorrow. Let us do our part to make this a safer, healthier and happier place for the next generation. I am deeply touched by the presence of our Youth Leaders, young volunteers and all the young ones who are here to support us. I thank you all for standing with us here in solidarity as we mark the 28th year of pledging to continue our work. The disparity between the growing numbers of domestic violence survivors needing help and the limited resources available to them is alarming. We are driven by our commitment and dedication but reduced funding for Domestic Violence Programs is a huge challenge for us to continue this life-saving work. As you walk around the candles this evening, reflecting on the stories of survivors and thinking of lives lost; please support us with commitment and intent and give from your heart. With your generous support tonight, Survivor services will be able to provide a crisis hotline, counselling, legal advocacy, economic empowerment programs and many opportunities for self-care to survivors as they continue their journey of healing and empowerment. With your contributions tonight, the Prevention Services will be able to reach out to more young people and equip them with the tools to not only be aware of Teen Dating Violence but know their rights and resources available to them. The team will be able to provide training for DV professionals as well as community members to raise awareness. With your encouragement and kind consideration we will endure the challenges and persist to move closer to our vision of a society free of Violence and Abuse. With Gratitude, Verda.