Non-Profit Of The Week: Home Alive
Kick some butt and take some names with Home Alive
In 1993, on her way home from a night out with friends, Seattle singer Mia Zapata (of The Gits) was sexually assaulted and strangled to death with the cords from her hooded sweatshirt. She was 27. This loss to the Seattle music and arts community was devastating and it took nearly 12 years to catch and convict Zapata’s killer (now serving 36 years in prison). From this tragedy, though, came one of the most important non-profits in the Seattle area: Home Alive.
Founded by Zapata’s friend, Valerie Agnew (who was the awesome drummer for 7 Year Bitch and a close friend of Zapata’s), Home Alive’s mission is to provide affordable self-defense classes, empower the community, do educational outreach and plan events and fundraisers. They have been doing this, now, for over 15 years. They say it best themselves, on their website:
‘Throughout our organization and programming, we integrate a belief that violence stems from power imbalances related to such things as gender, class, race and sexual orientation. Through our classes, events and education we shift people¹s perspectives from focusing on safety as an individual concern to seeing violence prevention as a part of collective action.’
Awesome, right?
Check out the Home Alive promo video, made in 2006:
As a young Gits fan in 1993, I was dumbfounded by the news of Mia Zapata’s violent death and the shock has lessened very little with age. However, when I was 19 years old, I experienced the incredible gift that the organization founded in her honor has to give to people the Seattle area. Walking home from work one night, around 1 am (which I did nightly), I was chased by a man for several blocks. I was lucky enough not to be attacked that night, but my confidence, security and sense of personal power were deeply rattled.
After this incident, I struggled to re-establish my sense of safety in my own neighborhood. I began taking classes at Home Alive and experienced a thrilling reclamation: of my sense of self, of my own competence, of my ownership and love of my community. As I learned basic self-defense and safety tips, I realized that my recovery from my near miss had led to a stronger foundation and an increased knowledge of who I was and wanted to be. Home Alive has facilitated similar recoveries for countless people in the Seattle area who have experienced (or are concerned about) violence or violation. Their work is invaluable to our community and they can always use volunteers, financial contributions and people to get the word out.
I know I’m not the only person in the Northwest who wants to thank the incredible people over at Home Alive for the amazing work they do and, personally, for the impact they’ve had in my life. Keep up the good work, guys.
-A.J.
Another deeply personal and socially significant post. Thanks for keeping us informed, DonationPay!
As a woman of color and a mother of two girls, as a Seattlite, a feminist, and a former Riot Grrl (okay – a current Riot Grrl), I am eternally thankful to organizations live Home Alive. Take back the night!