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July 12, 2024
For the eighth year, Minor League Baseball (MiLB) and the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation are partnering to raise awareness and spur action on domestic violence and abuse. The campaign empowers and educates fans at MiLB ballparks to help end cycles of violence and to build a safer space for all. More than 45 MiLB teams are joining this year’s initiative which kicked off on June 9 and will continue through September 2.
The pair initially teamed up in 2016 to increase awareness and education about domestic violence in an effort to decrease alarming rates, specifically among children. An average of 24 people per minute are victims of sexual or physical violence by a partner in the United States – more than 12 million women and men over the course of a single year. 30-60% of partner violence perpetrators also abuse children in the household – representing nearly 1 in 4 of cases filed in state courts. According to the US Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, domestic violence may be the single contributing factor to fatalities from child abuse and neglect in the US.
The partnership with MiLB marked the first time the Foundation aligned with a sports entity on a league-wide initiative. Founded in 2002 by legendary baseball manager and Hall of Famer Joe Torre and his wife Ali, Safe at Home Foundation uses education to help end the cycle of violence and save lives. It works to create a safe space in schools, offering both trauma informed intervention and prevention services for empowerment, education and understanding. This includes counseling, workshops for teachers, resources and awareness and prevention campaigns.
The strategic partnership leverages the reach of MiLB to raise awareness and funds to help address domestic violence and provide crucial support to affected families. Minor League Baseball consists of 120 full-season affiliated teams across the US and Canada and serves as a developmental system for Major League Baseball (MLB). Founded in 1901, MiLB is headquartered in New York and operates additional rookie leagues in Arizona, Florida and the Dominican Republic each summer.
At select MiLB games this summer, each team will raffle or auction off an autographed baseball from Torre. Fans will also receive a Topps card pack including a Safe At Home Topps card, featuring Joe Torre’s personal story. Teams will also make public announcements dedicated to ending domestic violence, provide educational materials to fans and share the news on social media.
Safe at Home currently has 20 Margaret’s Place (its operational model named in honor of Torre’s mother) sites that operate in New York and Westchester, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Cincinnati, OH; and Tahiti, French Polynesia. This school year, Margaret’s Place programs have reached 21,394 students, and since its inception, Safe At Home has served more than 181,000 youth, their families and communities.
“Millions are exposed to violence, trauma and abuse every year. It is vital that we raise awareness and that they have access to support…Join us in cultivating a new generation of healthy, respectful relationships, where everybody feels safe at home,” said Torre.
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