"I am not sure if there is any emotion worse than fear. I am the product of a violent home and lived in fear during my childhood. As a child, I was fearful of my own father who physically abused my mother. He emotionally abused me and my brothers and sisters.

When I would come home from school and see his car in front of our house, I wouldn’t go in. I was a very nervous child.

I felt alone, and thought I was the only one who had this problem. At that time, I certainly did not recognize any connection between domestic violence and the feeling of inadequacy. I was fortunate to have baseball as an escape, a place to hide, but, even there, I carried my insecurity with me.

Then, in 1995, my wife, Ali, asked me to join her at a seminar which required intensive self-examination. There, I was finally able to talk about what I had been keeping inside for years and was able to recognize the impact of my childhood pain. This revelation motivated me to share my experience. I wanted those in similar situations to benefit from the knowledge that the tragedies they experience are not their fault.

In 2002, Ali and I founded the Safe At Home Foundation, dedicated to ending the cycle of domestic violence. In starting Safe At Home, we decided to focus on children by establishing safe rooms in schools, which we call Margaret’s Place, in memory of my mom. They’re a safe-haven, where students can talk to each other and with a trained counselor. Margaret’s Place offers students the opportunity to address and explore issues of violence in a stable, non-threatening environment, while helping them to understand that they are not alone or to blame.

I have been fortunate to visit many schools and explain to kids that I grew up in a violent home, and that my dad was abusive to my mom. When I look up, I often see youngsters nodding their heads in agreement, perhaps because they have been experiencing the same thing.

As a society, it is our obligation is to make our children’s lives safe. If I had had a Margaret’s Place to visit when I was younger, I would have discovered that it’s not my fault and I wasn’t alone."

Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation

Too Many Innocent Kids Hurt by Domestic Violence, by Joe Torre, March 15, 2012

A Call to Men

Men Can Stop Rape

National Council of Youth Sports

Men’s Resource Center for Change

Mr. Torre and his wife, Ali, created the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation, inspired by Torre's experiences growing up as a witness to domestic violence in his home in Brooklyn. The Foundation operates approximately a dozen domestic violence resource centers called Margaret's Place, named after Torre's mother, in metropolitan New York City and Los Angeles. In October 2007, the Joe Torre Foundation partnered with Union City, New Jersey's Board of Education and the North Hudson Community Action Corporation (NHCAC) to create New Jersey's first Margaret's Place, at Union City's Jose Marti Middle School. Aspects of Union City's Margaret's Place will include a peer counseling program and an anti-violence campaign within the school, in order to encourage children to discuss family problems more freely, and training for teachers and counselors. Joe Torre is a former American professional baseball player, manager and executive. A nine-time All-Star, he played in Major League Baseball as a catcher, first baseman and third baseman for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and the St. Louis Cardinals. After his retirement as a player, he later managed all three teams. Mr. Torre managed the New York Yankees from 1996 to 2007. The Yankees reached the post season each year and won ten American League East Division titles, six American League pennants, and four World Series titles, compiling a .605 winning percentage overall. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2008-2010, reaching the post season twice. From 2011-2012, Mr. Torre served as Major League Baseball’s executive vice president of baseball operations.