You may have noticed the barrage of ads and special offers out in force for last weekend's Mother Day. This year, Americans have spent a record $21.2 billion professing love and gratitude to Mom through brunches, jewelry, and last-minute flower deliveries. 

With a figure like that, it's easy to forget that globally, the U.S. ranks 61st in maternal health - the worst performance among the developed countries - or that we're one of only three countries in the world that doesn't mandate paid maternity leave. (The other two? Papa New Guinea and Suriname.)

It also hides an uglier, starker number that is not as publicized: the cost of domestic violence to society, which exceeds $8.3 billion annually in the U.S. alone. 

We can change that. We can reduce this figure through early prevention and intervention services, community awareness and engagement, and the recovery support that WIT and her sister agencies offer to women who need a plan to be secure and safe. 

Let's not sweep aside the issues that can improve the lives of mothers - of all women - year round, instead of simply brightening them over one celebratory weekend.

This spring, we can determine the FY 2015-2016 state funding for domestic violence services in Pennsylvania. Call, write, and email your member of the PA House of Representatives to support an additional $2.2 million in funding for domestic violence services and civil legal representation!

Thanks to our generous friends and supporters at the AFL-CIO, we received 30 lovely Mother's Day gift boxes, designed and filled with toiletries, for WIT mothers!

Thanks to our friends at Creative Characters, WIT enrolled in WKDU 91.7 FM's PSA workshop for Philadelphia-area nonprofits. WIT's Executive Director Roberta Hacker recorded a PSA to be played on air.