Astros Owner Jim Crane Opens Up His Swanky Downtown Houston Restaurant to Help Domestic Violence Victims

Houston Astros owner Jim Crane stepped up to the plate once again on behalf of victims of domestic violence by opening his downtown restaurant Potente to AVDA (Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse) for a fundraising evening honoring and in support of victims of domestic violence. With Potente chef Danny Trace bringing out his trump card of black truffles and supporters in a generous frame of mind, the event came close to doubling the evening’s goal.

By night’s end AVDA‘s mission of ending domestic violence had been enriched by $325,000 as attention spreads on the October (and year-round) issues of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Theme of the evening was Honoring Texas Victims: Advocating to End Domestic Abuse.

While the gourmet dinner event was by no means a downer it was a stark awakening as AVDA CEO Maisha Colter revealed that by the end of August, Houston saw an increase in domestic violence-related homicides by 78 percent from 2020 during the same period. And 2020 was bad enough to set records.

There was an approximately 23 percent increase in domestic violence homicides in Texas from 2019 to 2020, according to special guest Gloria Terry, Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) CEO. And 65 percent of Harris County family violence fatalities involved the perpetrator’s use of a firearm.

“Domestic violence crime is up 40 percent in Harris County since the pandemic began, which includes 17 people killed by perpetrators out on multiple felony bonds,” Colter told the dinner group. “Furthermore, we are extremely concerned in the greater violent retaliatory nature of these crimes. More and more third parties (parents, children, new boyfriend/spouse) are being killed at the hands of the abuser.”

Those figures required a deep slug of the beverage of choice. And there was a solemn moment when the 185 Texans whose lives were lost to domestic violence in 2019 were given special honors. Kudos to chairs Katherine and Brian Parsley and Stephanie von Stein Schusterman and Dr. Mark Schusterman.

Less than a week earlier, Crane’s Astros had hosted the Houston Astros Foundation Safe at Home luncheon at Union Station at Minute Maid park, also emphasizing the need to end the domestic violence epidemic.

PC Seen: Leisa Holland-Nelson, Trini Mendenhall, Steve Winter, Mark Russell, Dr. Joey Fisher, Meredith Marshall, Carla Diaz-Lewis, Karen Freedman, Amy Huggins, Christina Heins, Bobie Nau, Sippi Khurana, Natalie and Steve Mohtashami, Leela and Nat Krishnamurthy, and Laura Liang.