Victims Of Domestic Violence

To Be Honored In OFO Exhibit

ONEONTA – During National Crime Victims’ Right Week, April 2-8, Opportunity for Otsego’s Violence Intervention Program is preparing an exhibit at SUNY Oneonta to remember victims killed in an act of domestic violence.

Honorees include Tifanne K. Wells of Oneonta, victim of a 2015 murder-suicide near Emmons, and Elizabeth Welsh Callahan of Goodyear Lake, whose husband is under indictment in her 2000 death in Pennsylvania.

The exhibit, which opens with a reception 5:30-7 p.m. April 3 in the college’s Fine Arts Building, was inspired by a Pennsylvania project, Empty Place at the Table.

The memorial exhibit will include a dining table surrounded by empty chairs, a reminder that the deaths left an empty place not only in the lives of their families, but in the community as well.

The table will be set with personal effects donated Tiffane and Elizabeth’s families.  An additional place setting honors the Unnamed, all those who remain unknown to us but not forgotten.

The intent of the exhibit is to personalize domestic violence, and recognize that the victims are not only statistics, but are parents, children, neighbors, friends and valued members of the community.

Additions to the Table are welcome. Anyone wishing to honor a family member killed in an act of domestic violence should call 433.8038.

If you would like more information on the Violence Intervention Program or need help, call the 24-hour hotline at 607-432-4855.