Column: Hope’s Door director confronts domestic violence

The broad issue of public health and its problems includes topics like obesity, tobacco and alcohol use and misuse, contagious disease outbreaks ”“ all attention-getters, as well they should be. But CarlLa Horton”™s work centers on a public health concern that is often relegated to the shadows of public awareness: intimate partner violence ”“ or as it is more commonly known, domestic violence.

“A huge barrier is people”™s unwillingness, or inability, to believe that this could happen to them, to them in their family, to them in their community, to them in their social strata ”“ that this problem just doesn”™t happen to ”˜people like us,”™” she said.

Horton knows differently. Speaking with a Midwestern accent that hints at her Illinois roots, she explained that domestic violence does not discriminate ”“ victims of domestic violence are, in fact, just like us. They include women and men, married and unmarried, opposite-sex and same-sex relationships, and are ethnically and culturally diverse, young and old, rich and poor, well-educated and not.

For 18 years, Horton has been the executive director at Hope”™s Door, an organization headquartered in Pleasantville that provides resources and support for victims of domestic violence. In her leadership role, she helps to break the silence and the cycle, educate the public and dispel myths. Her office, decorated in soft sage green and lavender colors, is a tranquil contrast to the turmoil that her work involves. In Westchester County, there were almost 1,700 reported victims of domestic violence in 2012, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

On a national scale, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an average of 24 people each minute are raped, physically assaulted or stalked by an intimate partner.

The CDC reported that along with the direct physical and emotional trauma from domestic violence, prevalent indirect consequences include conditions like asthma, heart disease and immune system diseases.

With long brunette hair and burgundy-framed glasses, Horton is a youthful-appearing 63-year-old. She exudes confidence and an energy that connects her with others. Referring to Horton, Adam Kintish, TD Bank”™s Westchester regional manager, said, “CarlLa has such an amazing, bubbly, outgoing personality. She is so approachable and easy to work with. I”™ve never seen her without a smile.” TD Bank and the TD Charitable Foundation support the organization. Kintish added, “Their cause, what they stand for, who they help, is important and is to be admired.”

Along with professional polish, Horton also projects compassion.

For her, the experience of domestic violence is both professional and personal. “I am very much the daughter of a battered woman,” she said. “When I was a child, my earliest memories were of my mother beaten, punched and stomped from one end of our house to another. And by a man whom everybody else thought was just the greatest guy in the world because his external person was a very different person than what he showed at home.”

Horton has witnessed how circumstances, like fear and a lack of resources, can cause someone to become trapped. She has spent much of her career translating that knowledge into action. The organization”™s staff, a blend of about 30 full- and part-time employees, provides a 24/7 hotline service, safety planning, danger assessment, emergency shelter, counseling and support, information and referral and legal advocacy and representation for individuals.

It also works with corporations. “Domestic violence does not stay home. It follows the victim wherever she, or he, goes,” Horton said.

The toll of domestic violence on individuals and families is incalculable. But like any public health issue, there is also a financial cost to society and businesses. According to the CDC, the impact of domestic violence for women alone costs nearly 8 million days of paid work ”“ the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs, close to $1 billion dollars in lost productivity.

Horton noted steps that businesses can take to protect their employees and help maintain a safe workplace. “The first thing for local businesses is to make sure that the Hope”™s Door 24-hour hotline number, (888) 438-8700, is prominently displayed.”

Hope”™s Door also offers free on-site training to any employer in the county on how they can help assess and identify victims of domestic violence and how to reach out to them in a way that doesn”™t jeopardize their safety.

Horton said another connection to the business community is through a newly launched Next Step program that helps support clients with the means for economic empowerment after their initial crisis has stabilized. The program focuses on finance and career related activities like helping clients achieve their GED, gain other job certifications, improve English language skills, manage finances and develop resume building or interviewing skills.

According to Evelyn Bauer, the program”™s economic empowerment coordinator, “We give our clients the greatest chance to know what success will be. We offer them a level of success and achievement that many of them didn”™t expect to see again.”

The Avon Foundation for Women is among the corporate sponsors of the Next Step program. Christine Jaworsky, the Foundation”™s senior manager for grants and programs, said, “When I meet with survivors who have participated in similar programs and see someone who has been able to transition to being independent, confident and a woman with a bright future for herself, I know that little by little, we are having an overall huge impact.”

Horton”™s political activism doesn”™t stop at work. She is an elected councilwoman in West Milford, N.J., where she has lived for almost 23 years, and she serves on her church council at the United Methodist Church.

When we met at her office, Horton had recently returned from her mother”™s memorial service. She shared facts and data about domestic violence, and programs and services. She shared a few loving anecdotes about her mother ”“ her caring, her tenacity (including a successful fight to become the first woman cab driver in an Illinois community), and her inspiration. As she seems to have done much of her life, Horton balanced the professional and personal, paying tribute to, and honoring, them both.

The Winners Circle focuses on successful female entrepreneurs and attorneys ”“ both male and female ”“ in Westchester County.