Safe Walk Turns a Morning at Waterford’s Duck Pond Into a Stand Against Abuse

Safe Walk Turns a Morning at Waterford’s Duck Pond Into a Stand Against Abuse. Oct. 4, Safe Futures brings families, friends, and community teams together for its annual walk during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The walk itself begins at 9 a.m., but this is more than a group making a lap around the park.

Beginning at 8 a.m., Arnold Holm Jr. Memorial Park and the surrounding Waterford Duck Pond area become a small community gathering with a craft fair featuring local vendors, basket raffles, breakfast food trucks, and activities surrounding the walk.

The goal is both symbolic and practical.

Safe Futures hopes the event will raise at least $50,000 to support free and confidential services for people in Southeastern Connecticut affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, trafficking, elder abuse, and child abuse.

The Organization Behind the Walk

Safe Futures is based in New London, but its work extends throughout Southeastern Connecticut.

For someone experiencing abuse, the organization can be a point of contact at virtually every stage of a crisis.

Safe Futures operates a confidential hotline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Its services include emergency shelter and safe-hotel placements, transitional and supportive housing, individual counseling, court advocacy, child and family advocacy, assistance for victims working with law enforcement and prevention programs in area schools.

Those services are provided free and confidentially.

That gives the Safe Walk a different significance than a typical Sunday-morning fundraiser.

The money raised doesn’t disappear into an abstract national campaign. It supports an organization working with people in this region who may need somewhere safe to sleep, someone to accompany them through court, help making a safety plan or simply a confidential person to call.

Walk Together — or Build a Team

Adults can register for $25, while children under 18 and students participate free.

Walkers can come individually, gather family and friends or create fundraising teams. Participants receive fundraising tools through the event registration system, and anyone who raises at least $100 receives a Safe Futures T-shirt.

Same-day registration is available beginning at 8 a.m.

The morning’s craft fair also opens at 8, giving people time to visit local vendors, grab breakfast from the food trucks and enter the basket raffles before the walk gets underway.

Then look for the purple balloon arch.

That’s the starting line, positioned at the Waterford Public Library near the Duck Pond. Waterford Police will be on hand to assist pedestrians crossing the surrounding roads.

Why October Matters

Safe Walk is deliberately held at the beginning of October.

National Domestic Violence Awareness Month is observed throughout the month, with organizations across Connecticut holding walks, vigils and community events intended both to support survivors and to make information about domestic violence and available services more visible.

Safe Futures expands its mission beyond domestic violence alone. Its programs serve people affected by sexual assault, stalking, trafficking, elder abuse and child abuse as well.

And while Sunday’s event is designed to be welcoming and family-friendly, the reason everyone is gathering at the Duck Pond is serious.

Sometimes awareness means knowing that help exists before you or someone you know needs it.

Safe Futures’ confidential hotline is available around the clock at 860-701-6001. Connecticut’s statewide Safe Connect service can also be reached by calling or texting 888-774-2900.

A Walk With a $50,000 Destination

Safe Futures has set a fundraising target of at least $50,000 for this year’s walk.

But participation doesn’t require raising hundreds of dollars or assembling a large team. Someone can register, show up and walk. Families can bring children. Students can participate free. Others can support friends who are fundraising, shop the craft fair or donate without walking.

Parking will be available nearby at the Waterford Community Center, Town Hall, Waterford High School and Civic Triangle Park. The Waterford Public Library lot is reserved for craft-fair vendors and volunteers and will not be available for general parking

One other thing to leave home: the dog. Only service dogs and police dogs are permitted at Safe Walk.

The craft fair and registration open at 8 a.m., and the walk steps off at 9.

For Safe Futures, however, the destination is considerably farther away: a community where fewer people need the services the organization provides every day.

More information is available at the Event Website link below. To register, click the Event Registration link below.

Details

Event: Safe Walk 2026
Date: Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026
Registration & Craft Fair: 8 a.m.
Walk: 9 a.m.
Location: Arnold Holm Jr. Memorial Park / Waterford Duck Pond
Address: 37 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford, CT 06385
Admission: $25 adults; free for children under 18 and students
Same-Day Registration: Available beginning at 8 a.m.
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Fundraising Incentive: Raise $100 or more and receive a Safe Futures T-shirt
Activities: Community walk, local craft vendors, basket raffles and breakfast food trucks
Parking: Waterford Community Center, Town Hall, Waterford High School and Civic Triangle Park; no attendee parking at Waterford Public Library
Starting Line: Purple balloon arch near the Waterford Public Library
Dogs: Service and police dogs only
Beneficiary: Safe Futures
Safe Futures 24/7 Confidential Hotline: 860-701-6001
CT Safe Connect: Call or text 888-774-2900

Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.