PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Day One today announced that it was the recipient of a $750,000 grant from the
Department of Justice's Office of Violence Against Women that will enable it to better address how to serve the needs of people with disabilities. The agency will collaborate with the R.I. Coalition Against
Domestic Violence and PAL among many other disability service providers to study and create programs to prevent and treat all forms of violence against people with disabilities.
"We will spend the next three years plotting out our strategy, tactics and implementing a plan to educate service providers and the community-at-large about the needs of persons with disabilities who are
disproportionately victims of abuse," said Peg Langhammer, executive director of Day One. "It's been estimated that 83% of women in this population will be abused during their lifetimes. The fact that it
happens often by the hands of the people entrusted to care for them is tragic and needs to be stopped."
Attendees at today's ceremony included Sen. Jack Reed, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rep. James Langevin,
Rep. Patrick Kennedy, Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts, General Treasurer Frank Caprio, Attorney General Patrick Lynch, and Mayor David Cicilline.
Day One also dedicated a training room in its new accessible headquarters to Citizens Bank Foundation, a major donor whose support helped the agency to expand its programs.
About Day One
Day One's mission is to reduce the prevalence of sexual abuse and violence, and to support and advocate for those affected by it. For more than 30 years, Day One has been on the forefront of efforts to end
sexual violence in R.I. Established in 1973 as the R.I. Rape Crisis Center, Day One is the only agency in R.I. organized specifically to deal with issues of sexual assault as a community concern. For more
information, visit
