SEATTLE — Since she was young, Yeardley Love was described as a force to be reckoned with. But in 2010, just weeks before she was to graduate college, the 22 year-old was beaten to death by her ex-boyfriend. To help preserve her legacy and help others avoid a similar fate, Yeardley's family founded the One Love Foundation.
"Our mission is to end abuse, relationship abuse, and violence, by educating young people about the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships," said Michele Heffron, Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Region of the One Love Foundation.
Since it started, the non-profit organization has helped educated more than 1.7 million young people through educational workshops, both in-person and online.
"What One Love wanted to do is really meet young people where they are. So the film-based education is where we think and we see the change taking place with young people. And then when you couple that with discussions and getting young people to talk about it and start normalizing relationships that are healthy, rather than focus on what's unhealthy we see they change happening as well."
While we're all guilty of doing unhealthy things sometimes in a relationship, One Love says there are things to look out for.
"Some of the common signs we see in unhealthy relationships are things like intensity, possessiveness, isolation, volatility. And the list goes on," said Heffron. "We want to help people by becoming aware of what those behaviors are and how do we change them."
"All of our resources and tools are offered 100% free of charge. You can access all of our materials 24-7, 365 through our website and our online training platform. We really set out to do this because we want there to be no barriers for any group or community to get this information."
From a great tragedy to a worthy cause. The One Love Foundation hopes empowering young people now will lead to healthy relationships in the future.
"We believe here at One Love that by education and community mobilization, we can see statistic change, and social norms around abusive relationships change as well."
You can help this great foundation and have fun too. The first annual Move For Love Seattle event is a timed 5K walk/run. The event will also feature food, music, and other activities. The money raised from the race will benefit the One Love Foundation The race is happening Saturday, May 21 at Lumen Field. You can find registration information at moveforlove.org.
Sponsored by the One Love Foundation. KING 5's Evening celebrates the Northwest. Contact us: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email.