Turning Point of Lehigh Valley's Executive Director Lori Sywensky accepted Moravian’s Shining Lights award this past spring for Turning Point's partnership with the university in educating the community about domestic violence and preventing its occurrence.
The partnership between Moravian University and Turning Point of Lehigh Valley has a profound impact on the Moravian community. Turning Point is a nonprofit that supports survivors of domestic and intimate partner abuse. Under the direction of Executive Director Lori Sywensky, Turning Point offers an emergency safe house to individuals, providing them with a living environment free from violence, as well as counseling services, legal advocacy, and training programs aimed at preventing domestic and intimate partner abuse. Moravian entered into a memorandum of understanding with Turning Point in December 2022, but this valuable partnership began long before then.
Turning Point’s mission is to eliminate domestic and intimate partner abuse in the Lehigh Valley through survivor empowerment and community education and engagement. The organization offers training and guidance on intimate partner abuse to Moravian faculty and students through coordination with the Title IX office, during campus events, including Heritage Day, Moravian’s full day of community service, Consent Day on Campus, and at various health and resource fairs. Turning Point also partners with Moravian’s Advocates for Sexual Assault and Dating Violence Survivors committee in an educational capacity, providing support for student survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking.
Together, Turning Point and Moravian led the development of the first Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges (LVAIC) course on interpersonal violence, working with Allison Bloom, assistant professor of anthropology at Moravian, to bring the course to fruition.
Bloom teaches courses focused on themes such as gender-based violence and inequalities in social service systems; thus, it was natural for her and Turning Point to connect to offer the organization’s resources to Moravian’s students. Turning Point and Bloom also worked together to create another course on intimate partner violence, featuring Turning Point’s members as guest speakers. Moreover, the nonprofit supervises students on a collaborative research project involving outreach to the Lehigh Valley community to provide better services for those affected by domestic violence. It’s a firsthand opportunity for students to take what they learn to positively impact the local community.
At Turning Point, Lori Sywensky and other staff members are always willing to collaborate with Moravian on research and advise students on their independent projects. No matter the class, whether it’s related to dating violence or intimate partner violence, Turning Point is dedicated to enriching students’ minds with relevant, firsthand knowledge. Moravian is extraordinarily grateful for Turning Point’s commitment to empowering its students and faculty, as well as the extraordinary impact the organization has on the Lehigh Valley community as a whole.