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12th District adds color to lives of domestic violence victims
n BY ERIKA WURST
Celebrating strong women emerged as the mission of Inter- national Women’s Month in March, and 12th District Officer Nikki Papadopoulos was on a mission to make sure she and her colleagues did exactly that this year.
Her idea: Throw a party for domestic violence victims that would celebrate all they’ve overcome, and to honor some of the strongest women Papadopoulos has ever met.
“Being a domestic violence victim, you have to be strong to survive. You have to stand up for yourself and move forward,” she commented. “We’re trying to show these women that we appreciate them and the strength they have to move on in life.”
In the year and a half since Papadopoulos moved from pa- trol to her role as the 12th District Domestic Violence Liaison Officer, she has hosted more than a dozen events for domestic violence victims. From self-care parties to clothing and purse exchanges, she’s never short on ideas. To celebrate International Women’s Month, however, she was determined to pull out all the stops.
Papadopoulos and her domestic violence sub-committee came up with the idea to host a painting party, inviting survi- vors from the district to enjoy refreshments and come together to paint using their own palettes.
“These sip-and-paint parties are a huge trend right now in Chicago,” she explained. “Women love to get together to chit- chat and relax.”
That’s exactly what they did on March 21 at 12th District headquarters. The 18 participants were provided with a palette and given instruction on how to paint the same picture of a woman’s face in abstract colors and lines.
“It was a very calming image, and that was the theme of the event,” Papadopoulos detailed.
An art instructor from Pinot’s Palette in Logan Square guided the women to create their artwork during the five-hour event. Pinot’s Palette also provided the paint, brushes, palettes and materials. It was a donation Papadopoulos couldn’t have hosted the party without.
“They brought the entire art studio to the 12th District, and that was a very costly thing to do,” she said. “The donation was overwhelming, and the event was a big success.”
For Papadopoulos, seeing women come together to celebrate their strength is what makes her job as a Domestic Violence Li- aison Officer so fantastic. In additional to meeting with local ad- vocates and giving presentations, she also gets to create positive moments for victims.
“I didn’t know anything about domestic violence before tak- ing on this role,” she admitted. “But when I look at these ladies and what they’ve been through, it gives me strength.”
For a woman to recognize her domestic situation is unhealthy and even harmful is difficult, and to take the hard steps to es-
46 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ APRIL 2018
cape, is no easy feat. Papa- dopoulos takes her job se- riously and is determined to let these women know there is help available. She makes them aware of avail- able resources and strives to host events that cele- brate them as survivors.
“The painting party was something brand new, and it’s only the beginning of the year,” she said. “Who knows what kind of things we’ll do going forward?” d