Photo taken with Fr. Charles Dahm from a Domestic Violence Outreach awareness event held on Sept 28th in celebration of new chapter for Domestic Violence Outreach.
Father Charles W. Dahm, O.P., Director of the Domestic Violence Outreach (DVO) and his team are excited to announce a new chapter in the ministry’s development. Since 2008, Fr. Dahm has led the response of the Catholic Church in Chicago to domestic violence. Now, the time has come for DVO to continue growing its mission as an independent, faith-based organization. We have preached about domestic violence at all weekend Masses in 185 Catholic parishes in Cook and Lake Counties.
We have formed ministries in 100 of those parishes, trained their staffs and connected the parishes to appropriate services for victims and their children. We have also provided orientation and resources to other dioceses and to a large extent, become the face of the U.S. Catholic Church’s response to domestic violence. DVO will continue as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization with its original mission to raise awareness about domestic violence, connect religious institutions to services and promote prevention.
The current Executive Committee along with Father Dahm will continue to guide DVO. “We will honor our legacy by continuing and expanding our work to end domestic violence,” said Father Dahm.