DENVER -- The Rose Andom Center has continued to serve domestic violence victims during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now it's facing another challenge after someone threw rocks at the windows during one of the George Floyd protests that have taken place around Denver for the past several days.
The front of the building is now boarded up, but the center remains open for appointments. The vandalism is a setback just as the center was in the process of figuring out how to safely resume onsite services again.
"I would absolutely wager that whoever chose to throw rocks at our window didn’t know anything about what we do and didn’t understand," said Margaret Abrams, Rose Andom Center Executive Director.
COVID-19 has proven it's not about the building but the work that is taking place through the Rose Andom Center. Beginning in early March, the center shifted operations online including video sessions and phone calls with clients.
"We’re very aware that the pandemic in many ways has created more challenges and more safety issues for domestic violence victims," said Abrams.
The windows were broken when protests for George Floyd turned violent over the weekend. The center's founder, Rose Andom, is a domestic violence survivor and a successful black businesswoman.
"We are very aware that the work that we do in the domestic violence and sexual assault field is very much rooted in anti-oppression work, anti-racism work and it’s very interconnected," said Abrams.
Abrams says the windows can be replaced but she would rather focus on ways the community can come together.
"That’s my hope, is that we can work together and work tougher as a community to find that path toward peace and justice, that’s really what the Rose Andom Center has been built on," said Abrams.