For over 35 years, the Houston Area Women’s Center has worked relentlessly to help survivors affected by domestic and sexual violence build lives free from the effects of violence. Beginning in 1977 with 9 volunteers, today the center has 115 paid staff, a counseling and administrative building, a residential shelter for 120 women and children, a state-of-the-art hotline call center and over 1,000 active volunteers.

On a recent gorgeous Spring morning, a record 2,700 people (included 500 survivors) attended the  26th Annual Race Against Violence Day to raise funds for the center. Uptown Diamond is a proud sponsor of the event. The company came to know the organization and their mission through Caressa Hughes, a close friend of the Antona family, who volunteers with the organization.

Online donations for the Race against Violence are accepted through March 31st,  and can be made at hawc.org. To date, the organization has raised $229,000.

In the words of one race participant (show below), “I wish I could write everything that coming to this center has brought to my life. I know I am not alone and I can be free.”