The Story of the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable

The Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable was founded following the completion of the Massachusetts League of Women Voters State Study of Domestic Violence. Three members of the League, Marilyn Ellsworth, Karen Cohen, and Susan Pettit decided what they learned from the state study should be put to use to help victims of abuse in our local communities. They reached out to other DV Roundtables to learn about how they were formed and how they functioned. They decided to become a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization and incorporated in 1999.

The women recruited Domestic Violence Service providers, health professionals, legislators, school personnel, police, clergy, and members of the local communities to join them. They formed a board of directors and subcommittees and began meeting monthly. Over the next few years, the women worked tirelessly to realize their vision of providing community education about domestic violence, supporting agencies that provide services to victims and survivors of abuse, and mobilizing community leaders.

Since that time, the Roundtable has placed resource materials in more than 100 locations in our three towns and has created a website that has reached 250,000 people both nationally and internationally. Annually the Outreach Committee has held collections for donations to fill Valentine Bags for families in shelter or transitional housing, has held an annual Shower for Safety collection to help families transitioning from shelter to set up new homes, and has encouraged local community members to sponsor a family for the holidays. In addition, the Program Committee has held a variety of programs about relationship abuse in its many forms including spousal abuse, teen dating violence, bullying, and elder abuse. Vigils have been held to honor those who have been killed because of abuse and to bring awareness that domestic violence can happen to anyone, anywhere regardless of socio-economic status, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. The Roundtable has also enlisted more men to help by joining a White Ribbon Group and by asking men to be part of the solution to end gender-based violence.

Founders Marilyn Ellsworth, Karen Cohen,
and Susan Pettit