Bolton Refuge House remembers those affected by domestic violence

A local domestic violence shelter honored the memory of a fallen Eau Claire police officer on Sunday.

The Bolton Refuge House celebrated survivors of domestic abuse and commemorated those that have lost their lives to domestic abuse, including fallen Eau Claire police officer, Robert Bolton.

Bolton was killed in the line of duty while responding to a disturbance at a domestic violence shelter on October 6, 1982.

37 years later, The Bolton Refuge house honors his memory along with countless others during domestic violence awareness month.

Organizers hosted an event with food, games, and discussion about resources available to those affected by domestic violence.

Bolton Refuge House is also introducing a new initiative called, The Purple Porch Project.

The project encourages community members to decorate their porches with purple to commemorate domestic violence awareness month and remember both survivors and those that have lost their life to domestic violence.

Bolton refuge House intern, Paige Panzenhagen, says that the Purple Porch Project helps show that the community supports the efforts of the shelter.

"Purple porch project is a project where we encourage the community to put purple lights or purple decorations, or purple up their porch to show their support for domestic violence awareness month and kind of show that they care about our cause,” Panzenhagen said.

Organizers say that while October is domestic violence awareness month, they do events all year in order to help those affected by domestic violence.