You Don’t Have to Be an Expert to Help: Why Our Communities Need More PurpleOne Trainees

A coworker starts getting constant calls from their partner throughout the workday. A friend stops showing up to things they used to enjoy. Someone you know tells you something about their relationship that makes you wonder if they’re safe.

Would you know what to do next?

Most of us want to help when someone we care about is experiencing domestic violence. But when the moment actually comes, it can be hard to know what to say. Should you ask about the relationship? Tell them to leave? What if you say the wrong thing?

You don’t have to be a domestic violence expert to make a difference. You just need the tools to recognize what may be happening, respond in a supportive way, and know where to connect someone for help.

That’s what PurpleOne is designed to do.

Domestic Violence Happens in Every Community

Domestic violence doesn’t stay behind closed doors. Its impact follows survivors into workplaces, schools, healthcare settings, faith communities, businesses, neighborhoods, and social circles.

That means the people with an opportunity to help aren’t limited to domestic violence professionals.

They’re teachers and nurses. Supervisors and coworkers. Pastors and librarians. Social workers and counselors. Business owners and civic leaders. Friends, neighbors, and family members.

Sometimes the first person a survivor reaches out to is simply someone they trust. How that person responds can matter.

Recognize. Respond. Refer.

Abuse doesn’t always look the way we expect it to. It may involve physical violence, but it can also include emotional abuse, financial control, isolation, intimidation, stalking, threats, sexual violence, or monitoring someone’s technology or location.

And recognizing that something is wrong is only the beginning. Knowing how to respond can be complicated.

That’s why PurpleOne focuses on three practical skills: Recognize. Respond. Refer.

Participants learn to recognize the dynamics and warning signs of domestic violence. They learn how to respond when someone shares that they may be experiencing abuse, including what can be helpful to say and how to support a survivor’s ability to make their own decisions. And they learn how to connect someone with resources like the Violence Prevention Center, where trained advocates can provide individualized support and safety planning.

Becoming PurpleOne trained doesn’t make you responsible for rescuing someone or solving their situation.

It makes you better prepared to be a safe person when someone needs one.

Who Should Attend PurpleOne?

The short answer? Anyone.

PurpleOne is designed for everyday people who want to be better equipped to respond to domestic violence. You don’t need a particular degree, profession, or background to participate.

The training can also be especially valuable for educators, healthcare professionals, counselors and social workers, business owners, HR professionals, faith leaders, nonprofit staff, librarians, civic groups, and others who regularly interact with people in their communities.

Domestic violence crosses every demographic, profession, neighborhood, and community. Knowing how to respond is something all of us can benefit from.

This Fall, Become Someone Who Knows What to Do

The Violence Prevention Center has several PurpleOne training opportunities available this fall throughout Southwestern Illinois.

Trainings are free and open to the community, and continuing education credit is available for eligible aestheticians, LPCs, LCPCs, LSWs, and LCSWs.

Four hours won’t make you a domestic violence expert.

That isn’t the goal.

The goal is to make sure that when a coworker, client, neighbor, friend, or family member gives you a reason to wonder if they’re safe, you don’t have to wonder what to do next.

Recognize. Respond. Refer.

You may never know when someone in your life will need a PurpleOne. But you can decide now to be ready.

View upcoming PurpleOne trainings and register at vpcswi.org/purpleone.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, VPC’s 24-hour crisis hotline is available at 618-235-0892.