-Umbrella, an organization based in the Northeast Kingdom, has expanded one of its services statewide. The Spark, a prevention "warmline," aims to disrupt patterns of domestic abuse by providing anonymous and confidential one-on-one help to those who have caused or could cause harm to an intimate partner or other family member.
A "warmline" is like a hotline in that it is a number someone can call when they need a particular type of help. The term "hotline" typically refers to a phone number someone can call during emergent crisis situations. A warmline, by contrast, offers non-emergency support.
The Spark, which is a warmline, was launched in 2024, initially serving the Northeast Kingdom. The idea for the warmline came from a yearlong process undertaken by Umbrella.
"After listening to survivors over time, we felt like something was missing in terms of the offerings for addressing and really trying to end domestic violence," Amanda Cochrane, executive director of Umbrella, told The Deerfield Valley News last week. Cochrane said that through conversations with stakeholders, the group came to the understanding that domestic violence is often generational and cyclical.
"We saw that people would come back to the same partner they had been with and was still harming them, or that the partner had moved on to someone else and was harming somebody else," said Cochrane. "We saw that it wasn't ending, it kept going. So we asked, what can we try to do to get at it in a way that was more supportive, and we thought more effective, than other similar work that had been done in the country and the state previously."
Olivia Plunkett, director of accountability programs at Umbrella, oversaw the study process and oversees The Spark's operations. The Spark, she said, was modeled after A Call for Change, a similar program launched in Massachusetts in recent years. A core tenet of both programs is offering support to a person who has caused harm, who wonders if they are causing harm, or who thinks they may cause harm.
"We understand that change and learning how to show up differently in our relationships takes a lot of support and a lot of time," said Plunkett. "It takes a person feeling safe in the first place to even consider showing up differently in their relationships."
The warmline, said Plunkett and Cochrane, aims to help foster that necessary sense of safety so that change around unhealthy patterns and behavior can begin.
"People need to think through, process, and learn," said Cochrane. "If you don't have anyone to do that with, it's not going to happen. So this is providing a space for people to feel safe talking about things they're not supposed to be doing or talking about."
The people who operate the phone lines, said Cochrane, are community members who are highly trained in de-escalation and interrupting harm. If a caller isn't sure what to say, the person who answers the call will know how to start and navigate the conversation.
"We have been working hard to build trust in our communities that we are serious that everyone, including people who are harming, deserve support," said Plunkett. "We are serious when we say that it is anonymous and confidential. It is worth it to take that risk to make the call, even though you don't know what to talk about and don't know how to start the conversation."
Plunkett said there has been a misconception for some that the answerer's job is to somehow "collude" with the caller.
"We want to do away with that misconception," she said. "All of our responders are trained in how to interrupt harm, interrupt collusion, be in compassionate accountability with somebody, and understand that when someone makes the choice to make a call, that in itself is a de-escalating choice. It is a preventive choice in its nature."
That isn't to say that a single call is meant to be the last. "All responders are very clear that just because you've made this call, it doesn't meant that the work has now ended," said Plunkett. "We very much so understand it to be maybe step one, or the pre-chapters to step one."
Cochrane and Plunkett said that because a warmline aimed at supporting people who cause harm is such a new concept - it's only the second of its kind in the nation - some community members have had trouble trusting it as a resource, and some people aren't sure whether the resource is intended for them. Plunkett said The Spark is intended for anyone. Callers, she said, can range from a person who has caused harm, a survivor, or even a person who knows someone in a professional capacity, thinks they might be causing harm, and isn't sure how to navigate the situation.
"We really want to be clear in how we talk about The Spark that The Spark isn't just for 'those bad people,' domestic abusers or perpetrators," said Plunkett. "Some of the most dangerous people in our communities are the folks who come off as the most charismatic and easy to communicate with. They have high-powered jobs. Folks who cause harm are our community members. They're us. So, we really understand The Spark to be for anybody."
The Spark can be reached between the hours of 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., seven days a week, by calling 802-613-0375, or 877-290-2906. Responders are available for up to an hour at a time.
A version of this story appeared in The Deerfield Valley News, The Commons' sister newspaper.
This News item by Lauren Harkawik originally appeared in The Deerfield Valley News and was republished in The Commons with permission.