Domestic violence can happen to anyone.

It can be the soccer mom who wears long-sleeve shirts even when it is 80 degrees outside, or the man who keeps saying he can’t go out when his friends ask to hang out.

That’s why on Thursday, the Carbon County Commissioners named October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

“We have to bring awareness to the effects of domestic violence,” said Brianna Schadder, outreach supervisor for Domestic Violence Service Center, at the meeting. “The community has to be aware of how it impacts someone’s life.

“Domestic violence does not discriminate,” she added. “There are people of all walks of life, color, background, age that have experienced domestic violence and there is help out there.”

Schadder said that a person may stay in a bad situation because they have no means to get out, be it no car, no family or no means of financially supporting themselves.

This is where the center can help.

She said that there are various services, from rental assistance to gas cards, that the center can provide.

“Everything is free of charge and confidential,” Schadder said. “If you are currently experiencing domestic violence or know someone that is, call our 24-hour hotline at 570-823-7312 and a counselor advocate will answer that call.

“It’s important to know that they have options. There is an agency out there that can address their needs in order to safely get them out of that relationship.”

Identifying a barrier

Schadder also shed light on a problem victims may face in Carbon County - the lack of transportation.

“We see a lot more people coming to our agency in Luzerne County because of the access to transportation,” she said, noting that Luzerne has better access to public transit, as well as Uber, taxis and ride share programs.

“They’re very, very limited on the transportation, (especially) if the abuser is the sole provider,” Schadder said. “They may not have a car or may not be allowed to have access to that car.”

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich recommended Schadder attend a transportation committee meeting to shed some light on this issue that had not been identified.

“I would bring this issue to them because it may be something they could assist in or at least it gives them an issue that we have not discussed in those meetings,” he said. “We tend to talk about mental health, medical and then general, but in regard to domestic violence and mitigating the impact or ensuring that those individuals who may be abused have access has not been discussed.”

Schadder said that discussing that barrier would be great and noted that maybe additional bus routes could be made or programs to assistant with vehicle repairs or purchases, that may be beneficial.

For more information on the Domestic Violence Service Center, www.domesticviolenceservice.org.