After the loss of Gabby Petito, the girl who was slain at the hands of her fiancé Brian Laundrie during a cross-country road trip, her father is ready to make a move that will allow his daughter’s legacy to live on forever.
Joe Petito has helped to open a domestic violence shelter called SafeSpace in Vero Beach, Florida in Gabby’s memory, according to WPBF.
He recently donated $15,000 from the Gabby Petito Foundation to the nonprofit facility, as it’s dedicated to helping domestic violence victims find shelter and resources.
The 42-year-old spoke out about the opening:
“It’s not what I need. It’s what the people need.
One in three women, one in five men, 10 to 20 million kids a year. When you do the math on that you’re talking 100 million people. There are only 350 million Americans in the United States.
So you’re talking just under one-third of the nation… We want everyone to get the same attention that Gabby got. I think Gabby is going to live on through everyone… Her story went so far.
I think she will live on through so many of us because more and more people are being found. More and more people are speaking up on their own violence that is happening to them and to their children. … And that’s a great thing but we still got more to do.
When asked how he was holding up with the tragic loss of his daughter, he said his family is doing well, and noted that “events like today” help them feel good, even for something so tragic.
