WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Plates are set for a spot that will never be filled. The display is a sobering reminder of domestic violence inside the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.
Tammy Rodgers is the Volunteer education coordinator for the Domestic Violence Service Center, who set up the event 'An Empty Place at the Table'.
"We try to celebrate their lives, we try to make sure that people are aware that domestic violence is one of those closed door issues," said Rodgers.
The personal items , including the plates, are placed by the victims' families. The Domestic Violence Service Center says three people in Luzerne County were killed last year as a result of domestic violence.
"But domestic violence is still considered one of the highest rates of death in Luzerne County," said Rodgers.
Some of the plates set were for kids not yet old enough to eat on them. One, just 37 days old. Three young brothers' plates are lined up side by side, killed in an arson in 2017.
Think about those victims that are never going to grow older, and it is their personal items," she added.
The Domestic Violence service center set up this display as a reminder of this reality for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It's problem they say is only growing in the county, both in numbers and in severity.
"They don't realize about how it can affect everybody's life. Because even though you can be standing there thinking 'I don't know anybody in a domestic violence situation, you actually do," added the advocate.
The event is in hope that these victims' stories will be a reminder to help save someone else.
The Domestic Violence Service Center has a free and confidential hotline set up. The 24-hour Hotline is available at (570) 823-7312 or 1-800-424-5600. Call for immediate and confidential counseling by highly trained Counselor/Advocates.