ROCKFORD (WREX) – Hundreds of people came out Wednesday to help raise money to fight domestic violence in Rockford.

The breakfast fundraiser, hosted at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Country Club, had a goal of raising $50,000 to bring in national experts who could help the community develop a family justice center. The family justice center would be a one-stop location for victims of domestic violence to seek help.

“We believe that domestic violence is such a systemic component to all of our violent crime,” says Jennifer Cacciapaglia of the Mayor’s Office for Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking. “We have to think of other ways to get at it than police and courts. And the family justice center is our best shot.”

So far, $30,000 has been raised to bring in a national expert from Alliance for HOPE International.

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