Yeardley Love's mother, coach raising awareness about relationship violence

They were a picture-perfect couple both University of Virginia lacrosse players Yeardley Love from the Baltimore suburbs and George Huguely from Chevy Chase But the couple had a stormy on again off again relationship And at Huguely s trial prosecutors commented that on May in a jealous drunken rage Huguely entered her apartment broke down her bedroom door and violently beat her to death I mean I can go back to quarter of six in the morning on May I got the phone call I know before Sharon got the knock at her door and literally time stopped explained Julie Myers Love s lacrosse coach Agonizing days followed as Yeardley Love s family friends and teammates grappled with the sudden loss of a young woman who had quietly captivated so a great number of The Beta bridge on campus was painted in her memory Not only did her teammates love her but everybody loved her Myers disclosed It was so unimaginable and so profound Two years later her sister friends and mom Sharon listened to the painful details They also witnessed the moment when Huguely was revealed guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to years in prison I deal with it basically the same as I did years ago her mom announced Do the best you can and keep going Sharon Love has done far more than keep going She created the One Love Foundation Its aim reduce relationship violence The foundation s research exposed intimate partner violence was the majority prevalent among - -year-olds We picked that age group and then realized there was no preventative Sharon Love reported Everything was after the fact College students were One Love s first target a film called Escalation was created for the first workshops held around the country The next focus high schools Kids loved it They liked talking about relationships and they liked talking to each other Sharon Love stated Myers stepped in two years ago as CEO after retiring from years as head coach of UVA s women s lacrosse club What could I do to help the next coach the next mom the next district from losing somebody because you didn t know what you were looking at she explained Myers reported as One Love evolved they realized they needed to reach even younger students so they reworked their lessons She mentioned workshops are now available tailored to different ages online at JoinOnelove org free of charge If we are prevention teaching which is where we settled how young do we have to start Myers explained So we educate kids as young as years old so that s like upper elementary school the beginning of middle school It s hopefully before they have a romantic partner Another growing part of One Love started about four years ago high school chapters Junior Simone Spasojevich started one last fall at Henrico County s Godwin High School I had read a story online about Yeardley s death and was shocked and disturbed and felt like a cause I really needed to bring to the Godwin campus Spasojevich announced She d seen concerning issues in specific of her friend s relationships My friends would talk about like I had a friend whose boyfriend would dependably text her Where are you Who are you with Spasojevich stated I craved to kind of raise awareness that control isn t love and that isn t how connections are built The Godwin One Love club has members with about - students attending two times a month Using the One Love guides on healthy vs unhealthy relationships club leaders plan the focus for each meeting I think that s been helpful in my personal journey Spasojevich announced To just be able to see what small warning signs and just being able to really trust my gut and know if something feels wrong it will only escalate from there On its website One Love says it s reached more than million young people over the years We have a lot of people that write to us to say One Love saved their lives Sharon Love announced They say the more young people who can be educated about relationship violence the better the chance to recognize the red flags or to be the person that moves in to help We re creating communities with these schools where they not only take care of themselves but they look out for one another both the boys and the girls Sharon Love announced When Myers reflects back years she announced she wishes she and Yeardley Love s teammates had noticed more and known more about trouble signs I wish I could go back years Myers commented It would be nice to go back to say Yards you are not alone we ve got your back and we re going to do something about this together Huguely is set to be published in five years There s like nothing I can do about it and I feel like any time or thought I give to him I could be doing something better than that Sharon Love disclosed Something better like continuing to expand One Love to give young people knowledge and skills to avoid escape or rescue others from relationship dangers