The Carbon County Commissioners adopted a proclamation in honor of raising awareness about domestic violence.

The proclamation recognizes the Domestic Violence Service Center, which began as the Women Center task force in 1977.According to the proclamation, "Women Center was founded by a group of volunteers to assess the needs of area women, provide support in the form of peer counseling, and conduct community education programs about issues of importance to women."In June 1978, the task force was incorporated as the Domestic Violence Service Center, which serves Carbon County today. Since then, the purpose of the Domestic Violence Service Center has been to work toward the elimination of domestic violence.Ester Medina, court advocate for the Domestic Violence Service Center, accepted the proclamation.She thanked the commissioners for their continued support of the agency.The center's services include providing legal advocacy to victims of domestic violence, including court accompaniment to PFA hearings, community support groups, one-on-one counseling and more. All services are free and confidential.In a related matter, Commissioner William O'Gurek announced that the Verizon Foundation has awarded a grant to the Domestic Violence Service Center to continue its initiative in Carbon and Luzerne county schools.The initiative, which started in 2012, impacts approximately 1,500 seventh through 12th grade students and teaches about dating violence, healthy relationships and resources and strategies available to reduce and prevent violent behaviors.