During her freshman year of high school, Jami Flannery and her family returned from church one Sunday to find that their house had been burned to the ground.

At the hands of her father, her home had gone up in flames. These were the same hands she had watched hit her mother when she was a child.

“I remember begging my mom to leave all the time, but she wouldn’t for many reasons,” said Flannery, now a graduate student in Medicine. “She had three kids. She didn’t have a way to support us.”

After moving to Illinois to be closer to her mother’s family, these same hands would now strike her.

“I became his main focus,” Flannery said of the abuse. “So if I got … out of line or anything like that, he would take out his anger on me.”

Eventually, her mother divorced her father. It was after the divorce that her father delivered that final blow by completely destroying their home, turning it into ashes.

After that, she didn’t see his hands much again.

Stories of domestic violence such as Flannery’s convinced Nancy Hiatt, executive director of The Center for Women in Transition, to launch a national movement called the “No More” initiative in the local area. After just one week of working at the center, she decided that a multi-disciplinary task force was necessary to help end domestic violence and sexual assault in the community.

“It’s 2013. I was surprised that there were still problems that I was hearing about,” Hiatt said. “That this was still going on.”

The task force’s first meeting was held on May 14 at the I Hotel in Champaign. The Center for Women in Transition’s Domestic Violence Shelter, often referred to as A Woman’s Place, in Urbana serves citizens of Champaign, Douglas, Ford and Piatt counties, so representatives from these counties were invited. This included representatives from law enforcement, the legal system, education, government, religious organizations and health care.

According to Hiatt, bringing all of these disciplines together is important because when domestic violence happens, it doesn’t just involve one family. It affects the community at large.

“If we work together we’ve got a chance of solving some of these problems,” Hiatt said. “But if we work in isolation, that’s not going to do it.”

Representatives were asked to sign up for at least one work group during the meeting. The work groups include legislative, victim justice, community education, abuser accountability and institutional advocacy and resources. These groups will set their own goals and will meet once every other month beginning in July.

According to the Illinois Domestic Violence Act, domestic violence is defined as abuse including “physical abuse, harassment, intimidation of a dependent, interference with personal liberty or willful deprivation.”

The Center for Women in Transition has seen an increase in its number of clients in the past year, according to the center’s Director of Programs Katie Sissors. In 2011, the center served a total of 479 clients. This number jumped to 553 in 2012.

“Why after so many years of domestic violence education, task force, work groups, federal grants to help … regional areas fight domestic violence and sexual assault, how come the numbers haven’t decreased?” Hiatt asked. “That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

Flannery, who later faced domestic violence in her own marriage, said people don’t understand why it’s so hard for women to leave.

“It’s just a lot more complicated than people ever realize.” Flannery said. “And the more people understand that complexity, the better off women will be coming forward.”

Eventually, Flannery left her husband and home in Kentucky to return to Illinois with her daughter. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she was granted a full scholarship to the University by the hospital she had worked at.

Now, Flannery is a member of the task force and shared her story at the first meeting for the initiative. She hopes that her story will help others better understand domestic violence and encourage other victims to speak out and end abusive relationships.

“The more supportive people are, the more understanding of the types of situations that (victims) are in, the better the outcomes will be,” Flannery said.

Those interested in joining the task force can contact The Center for Women in Transition at (217) 352-7151.

Karyna can be reached at [email protected].