LA HABRA : New City Program to Target Spousal Abuse
Councilwoman Dorothy May Rush has launched a campaign to fight spousal abuse and has turned over her unused campaign money to help fund a domestic violence outreach program in the city. Rush, 61, has donated $700 to the city’s Community Resource Center.
The past few years, Rush’s home has been the target of drive-by shootings. The most recent attack came last month, four months after Rush won a seat on the council on a “fight the blight” campaign. When she won, she promised to spend her leftover campaign funds on a good cause.
Rush said she wants her donation to go toward building a program that eventually will be capable of housing abused spouses who have no place to go and cannot afford to move away.
She said the problem of domestic abuse recently hit home when a longtime friend told her she was abused by her husband.
“I always knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know exactly what,” Rush said. “She finally divorced her husband a year ago and told me about her suffering. . . . I still cry every time I think about it.
“This domestic violence outreach is a way we can tell people that there’s a way to get out” of abusive relationships, she added.
The Community Resource Center has matched Rush’s donation and is establishing a hot line for people to call if they need help.
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