Working with trauma victims since the age of 10 may be jarring for some. But for Tara Dabney, she applies her knowledge of living in a funeral home to her current work. 

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Dabney entered working in nonviolence aid in the South Side of Chicago to help domestic violence victims. Using her social worker skills and legal advocate experience, she became the Director of Development and Communications at Nonviolence Chicago. 

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“We are an organization that was founded in 2016 in response to the rising violence that was going on in Chicago and the fact that Chicago did not have a real architecture of violence reduction,” Dabney states. 

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Dabney’s work in Nonviolence Chicago illuminates the effort they have been putting in to helping many Chicago neighborhoods lower the crime rate through different methods of aid. 

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She states that “The work that I do and the people I work with and I invest” in is important to her job. A usual day consists of responding to phone calls about shootings in Chicago as well as fundraising communication.

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At Nonviolence Chicago, Dabney states that they hire citizens of a neighborhood to help them connect with their community and teach them the practices of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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“We use the steps as a process of conflict mediation. The first step is you gather information. The second step is you share it with all who care. The third step, and perhaps the most important step, is you negotiate with dignity,” Dabney states. 

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Another nonviolence service in Chicago is Metropolitan Family Services, where working to help the many communities in Chicago that suffer from life’s hardships is their focus. 

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“We’ve supported [our community] with financial aid, counseling, education and legal services. But most of all, we have bolstered the strength that lies within each person, provided hope for a brighter future and helped individuals and families reclaim their dignity and purpose,” their website states. 

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In her role at Nonviolence Chicago, Dabney has been able to marry her love of reaching out to the community to help them one-on-one with her interest in helping those suffering from domestic violence. 

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“I was going to court with people again as a domestic violence legal advocate, and here I was a director of development communications. But that also allowed me to connect us to our broader community to Sarah’s Inn, which is a domestic violence service provider,” states Dabney.

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Sarah’s Inn helps victims and their families “get the support they need to find safety, rebuild their lives, and heal.” They, like Nonviolence Chicago, help their community through support and crisis intervention where they implement steps to recovery.

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Nonviolence Chicago is also working to reach out to those that cause the violence to help them escape their cycle and create a safer environment for every citizen. 

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“I feel like the communities we work in matter because racism and systemic disinvestment has been so much damage to so many for so long. It is my responsibility, it’s all of our responsibility to stand up and say something,” states Dabney.