On Sunday at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson joined Joe Torre, Hall of Fame manager and founder of the Safe at Home Foundation, for a pregame ceremony focused on raising awareness about domestic violence. Susan Higginbotham, CEO of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV), also participated in the event.
“It’s so important to support these programs, an organization like (PCADV), I think it’s wonderful,” Thomson said. “They need the support, and we’re there for them at all times.”
Torre established Safe at Home in 2002 after experiencing domestic violence as a child. He has spoken publicly about his father’s abuse toward his mother and its impact on his family.
“I thought I was the only one having to deal with this. I didn’t realize how widespread it was,” Torre said. “When we first started, we went to this one middle school, and I got in front of the class and said, ‘We’ll talk baseball in a minute, but I want to explain what we’re here for,’ and I explained how my dad was abusive to my mom and how it affected me.
“And I looked out there, and there were probably seven or eight kids [nodding their heads].”
That classroom had fewer than 20 children present. On Sunday, Torre shared his story with more than 40,000 people at the ballpark.
“Days like this are so huge,” Higginbotham said. “We are so grateful to everybody with the Phillies and to Joe for telling his story and all he’s doing for this cause. Non-profits like ours don’t get a lot of money to raise awareness, and by partnering with the Phillies and Joe Torre’s Safe at Home Foundation, it allows us to reach so many more people — and that’s so important because domestic violence thrives in silence.”
Torre explained that he did not recognize the emotional effects of his childhood until later in life.
“You just want to make people aware. It’s a very tough subject to talk about,” Torre said. “I think every single person either has dealt with it or knows someone who is dealing with it, but I think a lot of people would rather not talk about it because they don’t know how you solve it. But you need to talk about it.”
Together with his wife Ali, Torre created Safe At Home to help end cycles of violence through education and support services for children affected by abuse.
“Joe is a wonderful man, and he’s put a lot of time and effort to provide safety for kids in schools and to support kids that are involved with violence in the home,” Thomson said. “It’s huge for children to be able to feel like they’re safe.”
A central program within Torre’s foundation is Margaret’s Place—safe spaces within schools named after his mother—which now operates 30 sites across the country. Since its founding, Safe At Home has reached over 275,000 young people nationwide.
“I know what we do works,” Torre said. “The only thing we need to do is reach more kids.”
