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domestic abuse survivors, which often push the boundaries of available resources, is always challenging, the pandemic has made these challenges even greater. “With more people isolated at home with their abusers, situations can really escalate. When Iowa started to open back up in May, we saw a 28 percent increase in calls to the hotline,” Medea-Peters said. “We’ve had a 76 percent increase in requests for emergency housing assistance funding because people can’t stay with family or friends. Our housing advocates are sometimes taking 18 to 25 referrals a day.” At the same time, DVIP has had to modify its practices to make them more COVID safe, replacing many in-person visits with phone and video options and cutting capacity at their shelter in half to 20 beds to allow for social distancing. An overflow shelter opening this month will make up for some of that lost capacity. The pandemic has also affected their signature event. “We realized around late June or July that it wouldn’t be safe to get 500 people together for our family meal, and we started planning a virtual event,” Medea-Peters said. The 24th Annual Souper Bowl will feature many of the same elements that have defined it from its inception: soup from local restaurants and a community coming together to support an important mission. But there are some major changes. This year there are 10 different soups on offer, chosen from favorites at previous years’ events. In lieu of lining up to pick out a bowl, all participants will receive a commemorative 24th Annual Souper Bowl soup mug. Tickets are available at four levels: the Souporter at $25 comes with a commemorative mug and two 8 oz. containers of soup. The Student and Sliding Scale Souporter at $15 comes with a commemorative mug and
one 8 oz. container of soup. The Souporter Family Package is $75 and comes with two mugs and five 8 oz. containers of soup, and the Gift of Giving is $25 and can either be a gift of soup to someone else or a direct donation to DVIP. All packages include the option to choose your soup at checkout or let a DVIP advocate choose their favorite for you. Orders can be delivered or picked up within a 15-mile radius of DVIP’s location at 1105 S Gilbert Ct in Iowa City. Another significant change this year is a cut-off date for ticket sales. In the past, you could walk in on the day of the event and purchase your ticket, but this year, ticket sales will end on Feb. 15 so that organizers will know how much soup is needed and so volunteers can plan delivery routes. Though many virtual events over the last year have included a Zoom meet-up or something similar, the Souper Bowl has decided to forego that element, citing the video conferencing fatigue that many are feeling in a year full of Zooms, and the desire to allow participants to create community in their own way and on their own schedule. DVIP made 300 tickets available this year and had already sold half of them by mid-January. Super Bowl season may not be connected to higher rates of domestic violence, but the COVID-19 pandemic certainly is. So while DVIP’s Souper Bowl is different in 2021, it could be the most important year yet to rally the community around survivors—and soup.
EDITORS’ PICKS PRESENTED BY THE CITY OF IOWA CITY
EVENTS FEBRUARY 2021
Planning an event? Submit event info to calendar@ littlevillagemag.com. Include event name, date, time, venue, street address, admission price and a brief description (no allcaps, exclamation points or advertising verbiage, please). To find more events, visit littlevillagemag.com/calendar. Please check venue listing in case details have changed.
NOTE! We are listing only ONLINE and OUTDOOR events in this calendar at the moment. “Locations” listed for online events reference the presenting institution. Please visit our online calendar for links, or check the organizations’ websites and Facebook pages.
FRIDAY, FEB. 5,
Hot Soup/Cold Noses DRIVE THROUGH Supper,
Iowa Humane Alliance, Cedar Rapids, 5 p.m., $10 There’s no
such thing as too much soup in an Iowa winter. The annual Hot Soup/ Cold Noses benefit has been reconfigured as a drive-through, with $10 getting you a take-home meal that includes two bowls of your choice—black bean chili, creamy potato, vegetable, broccoli cheese or wild rice with mushrooms—plus bread and dessert. Proceeds benefit the Iowa Humane Alliance’s low-cost spay/neuter program.
More community opportunities this month: Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. The Nest Best Thing: Building Nest Boxes for Birds, Iowa City Public Library w/ Bur Oak Land Trust (icpl.org) Thursday, Feb. 25 at 12 p.m. 39th Annual Tribute to Women of Achievement, Waypoint Services (@ waypointservices) Thursday, Feb. 25
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, contact DVIP’s crisis hotline at 1-800-3731043 or visit dvipiowa.org.
at 2 p.m. 24th Annual Souper Bowl, Domestic Violence Intervention
Tiffani Green is a lifelong Iowan currently living in Coralville. She loves cooking (and eating!), showering her houseplants with benign neglect and forcing her cats to snuggle with her whether they want to or not.
VENMO @littlevillagemag PAYPAL lv@littlevillagemag.com
Program (@ iowadvip), $25-75
Celeste Lindell
