Contact: Linda C. Perez St. Jude House Phone: (219) 662-7066 Fax: (219) 662-7041

12490 Marshall Street Crown Point, IN 46307 www.stjudehouse.org

Press Release

Raise the Bar Indiana comes to NWI

Local Bar and local brewery join in the community effort to prevent sexual violence.

Crown Point, March 2017:  Crown Point leads the way for bringing Raise the Bar Indiana to NWI. St. Jude House partners with the Safe House Bar & Grill and Crown Brewing in an effort to create safer spaces in the community.

Raise the Bar Indiana is a bystander intervention training program for alcohol serving establishments. The goal is to equip participants with information and tools needed to recognize the signs of victimization and assault. It also provides tips on how to safely intervene on behalf of the victim. The overall vision of Raise the Bar Indiana is to create safe environments for community members to meet and interact by addressing social norms of drinking behavior, the physical environment of space where drinking occurs, and the expectation of action to take when situations appear to be unsafe.

“We want to be as proactive as we possibly can with our community and do what it takes to train our staff for the safety of our customers,” stated Pete Dragojevic, Owner of Safe House Bar and Grill located at 101 S. Court Street, Crown Point, IN. “We want our community to know that we are a safe environment and we will take steps to ensure that it continues to be.”  St. Jude House will train their staff on March 19, 2017.

“Crown Brewing is proud to participate in Raise the Bar Indiana. It is important to us that our patrons feel safe and secure while enjoying their visit with us,” stated Barb Smrecansky, Brand Development Manager of Crown Brewing located at 211 S. East Street, Crown Point, IN. “Cheers to St. Jude House for bringing this movement to Northwest Indiana!” St. Jude House will train their staff on March 25, 2017.

Approximately half of sexual assaults involve alcohol consumption by the perpetrator, victim or both. Twelve to 34 year olds are at the highest risk for sexual assault. For 1 in 3 assaults, the perpetrator was intoxicated. Every 109 seconds a person is sexually assaulted in the United States.

Both organizations are not only partnering on this initiative, they are both supporting St. Jude House in other ways. On February 16, 2017 Crown Brewing announced that this year’s Crown Beer Fest has officially chosen St. Jude House as their charity. This amazing event will take place on June 10, 2017 at the Lake County Fairgrounds. Check out their website for more details at www.crownbeerfest.com.  Safe House Bar and Grill is hosting the 4^th Annual Charity Ride for St. Jude House on August 13, 2017.  Visit their website at www.safehousecp.com.

“At St. Jude House we do more than provide food and shelter, we are a place of empowerment and we actively seek out and participate in initiatives that bring awareness to the community about domestic violence and sexual assault. We are committed to helping our communities be safe,” stated Linda Perez, Executive Director of St. Jude House. “We are thrilled that establishments like these care and want to partner with us on this amazing initiative and continue to support our efforts.”

St. Jude House, located in Crown Point, IN, pursues a vision where all engage in healthy relationships characterized by the mutual sharing of resources and responsibility. St. Jude House is a catalyst in Northwest Indiana for the prevention, education and awareness of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Providing quality, compassionate and effective services to those impacted by abuse.

 

 

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