SUNY’s Got Your Back comes to Broome

SUNY's got your back tables in the SUNY Broome dining hall. Photo by Dominick Matarese.

SUNY’s Got Your Back, a program which assembles comfort bags for people fleeing domestic violence situations made its way to SUNY Broome on March 18th.

Volunteers on campus assembled kits for victims which contained soap, resource cards with numbers to call, notebooks, stress balls, towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and more.

These bags are designed to make the situation easier for men and women who have removed themselves from a violent situation.

SUNY’s got your back assembled ~50,000 bags in 2018, and Phil Potter, a staff associate at SUNY’s got your back estimated that this year they will double that number and reach ~100,000 bags.

At the time of writing this the program has already assembled 30,000 bags. These bags once assembled make their way to hospitals, crisis centers, police stations, shelters, and other places where domestic abuse survivors can go.

SUNY’s Got Your Back visits each of SUNY’s 64 schools to raise awareness for domestic abuse, inform the campus on resources they have access to, help students in need, and receive donations.

When asked about his feelings toward the program, Phil Potter said that it feels good to be able to deliver bags and hear stories about how grateful victims are when they receive help. He said that when a victim is in these types of situations it’s one of the most terrible times in their life, and it’s rewarding to give actual help to actual victims.

Although originally intended to be a one year program in 2016, it has continued to run every year since, and Potter says the program is looking to grow even more year by year.

If you or someone you know is experience domestic violence, please visit SUNY’s Sexual Assault and Violence Response (SAVR) resources at https://www.suny.edu/violence-response/

Originally published April 18, 2019 exclusively in the Fulcrum print edition