Courtney's Allies

For many this is the week of love, a week that is special because of Valentine's Day. It's easy to get wrapped up in chocolates, flowers, and cards and forget that some people don't have healthy love in their life. Enter #chalkaboutlove, a national initiative that promotes healthy teen relationships. The initiative is one that is roughly one week long and starts with a national school announcement about where to go for help if its needed. It also includes wearorange4love day (a day to wear Orange in solidarity), and positive and encouraging notes to remind everyone to talk about love. The initiative ties in nicely with the month of February as a whole which is teen dating violence awareness month. As an ally from afar I do what I can to share Courtney's story and promote education on domestic violence in all its forms. Yesterday I spoke about Courtney and chalked about love with my students. Through teary eyes after watching the beautiful memorial vigil video and worki...

Happy February Allies! Thank you so much for following us and what we do - your continued support is invaluable to us. We want to share some things that may be interesting to you, including some new developments within our organization (some including YOU!). The year 2018 was a pivotal year in each of our lives. Courtney Gaboriault's life was brutally taken in a final act of domestic violence that rocked our small community and sent reverberations through the state of Vermont. To lose such an impactful person who had so much to give did not seem possible. It was a sucker punch, a whirlwind, a media frenzy, and a deeply devastating time for each of us. Through this profound tragedy and loss, friends of Courtney found that the only way to heal was to take action. We formed Courtney's Allies in the days following her death. Our first event was the candlelight vigil we held just seven days after we lost her in Barre City Park. Through Facebook, word of mouth and some media outl...