Breckenridge resident Traci Ochoa made a plea to the Breckenridge Police Department in a recent public comment, asking that they do more than repost resources on their social media pages to engage the community in conversations for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 

During her public comment at Tuesday, Oct. 14 Breckenridge Town Council meeting, Ochoa said she recently received confirmation from the Breckenridge Police Department that they haven’t and won’t be hosting community events, programs or education initiatives for Domestic Violence Awareness month, October. She said the department noted they would be reposting information for pertinent hotlines and organizations on their social media, but she didn’t find this adequate. 

“When the response is passive, it leaves prevention gaps and sends the message that this issue is not a priority,” she said. 

Breckenridge Police Department is not alone in not hosting community outreach or education events during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Silverthorne Police Department, the Dillon/Keystone Police Department, the Frisco Police Department and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with the Summit Daily they also did not host community outreach or education events. 

All local law enforcement agencies will refer cases to and partner with nonprofit Advocacy, Resiliency, Intervention, Safehouse and Education (ARISE) and have peace officers who aid victims. 

Ochoa said initiating partner violence might seem like a private matter, but it’s actually a community health and safety issue. She said domestic violence has a trickle down effect that impacts environments like schools and workplaces. 

She said it’s a problem when law enforcement agencies neglect proactive prevention, and many across the country are taking it more seriously through community outreach, particularly among young people. She urged the Breckenridge Police Department to do so and to partner more visibly with Advocacy, Resiliency, Intervention, Safe house and Education. 

Mayor Kelly Owens responded and said Breckenridge police wants to be a leader in this realm, but the department currently lacks a chief and much of the focus is on filling that position. She said “they will absolutely be addressing this in the future.”

What Summit County’s safe house, domestic violence nonprofit is seeing

Advocacy, Resiliency, Intervention, Safe house and Education outreach and education coordinator Torey Ivanic said by no means has 2025 been a slower year for the safe house and domestic violence nonprofit. She said for the first time in around two years two victims have had to share a room, not once, but twice due to how many people the nonprofit was serving at once. Typically, victims get a room to themselves. 

She said as of the last several months the calls volumes are slightly down, but she said they are fielding more calls detailing desperate or dire situations. She said lower call volumes aren’t necessarily an indicator that domestic violence cases are downtrending, but can instead be reflective of an environment where people are afraid to report. She said they have seen this hesitation partially among immigrant families who lack citizenship documents. She wants to remind people that Advocacy, Resiliency, Intervention, Safehouse and Education will not ask victims to verify citizenship. 

She said Ochoa is spot-on about preventative education and outreach, noting she could talk for hours about its importance.

“Prevention work is my passion … I see the societal norms that lead to the violence that we continue to allow to happen,” she said. 

She said it’s a difficult subject to talk through, but kids need to know if what they might be witnessing in their own household is domestic violence. She said it’s important for kids to know this community and Advocacy, Resiliency, Intervention, Safehouse and Education want them to be safe and it’s ok to reach out for help. 

Ivanic is currently teaching nonviolent communication tactics to high schoolers and healthy choices classes to middle schoolers, which both fold into the preventive education bucket. She said Advocacy, Resiliency, Intervention, Safehouse and Education not only has a safehouse for victims and their families, they will actually help them move away from their abuser. She said they can give around $10,000 to help go toward a down payment and will even help families move as far as places like Ohio to get away from abusers. She added people in need of shelter in the local safe house do not need to worry about pets because they are welcome. The nonprofit also has transitional housing with significantly reduced rent. More information about Advocacy, Resiliency, Intervention, Safe house and Education can be found at AriseSummitCo.org/whatwedo.