A song written about a single code word has turned into something much bigger for two Texas friends. Kalynn Moran and Kasey Davis launched The Project Yellow, a website meant to share survivor stories and connect people with resources, after Davis survived an assault by her husband. Since then, strangers from Florida, West Virginia, Canada and Australia have reached out to the pair asking how to leave abusive relationships and find help.
The idea traces back to a simple, deliberate choice the two friends made long before any of it became public. As Click2Houston reports, Moran and Davis settled on a subtle, easy-to-remember code word they could use to signal when one of them needed help — and they picked yellow specifically because it was Davis’ favorite color. That quiet arrangement between two friends eventually became the seed of a song, and then a mission.
Moran and her husband, Nate, wrote and recorded that song, titled “Yellow,” drawing directly from Davis’ experience and the friends’ private signal. They released it on October 9 during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, according to the same report. The track tells the story of the safe word the two friends established to flag danger without saying it outright.
Messages Arriving From States and Countries Away
What came next surprised even Moran and Davis. Women and men began messaging them through TikTok and Facebook, sharing personal stories and asking questions about how to leave abusive relationships, per Click2Houston's reporting. Some of those messages came from Florida and West Virginia; others arrived from thousands of miles away, including Canada and Australia.
Moran said breaking the cycle of abuse is among survivors’ most important challenges. Moran has also spoken about the importance of support systems, and The Project Yellow shares survivor stories and connects people with resources.
Finding Safety-Planning Guidance
The National Domestic Violence Hotline offers a personalized, interactive tool for people experiencing abuse, preparing to leave, or who have already left an abusive situation, according to thehotline.org. It can be reached at 800-799-7233, and people can also text START to 88788 or visit the same site to explore support options.
Texas Domestic-Violence Data
The Texas Council on Family Violence found that intimate-partner violence killed 161 Texans in 2024, including 137 women and 24 men.
More recent state data suggests the toll has continued. The Texas Council on Family Violence reported that 160 people, mostly women, died in intimate-partner homicides in Texas in 2025, with Harris County leading the state at 26 victims, as reported by Spectrum News. The Houston Area Women’s Center alone answered 35,000 domestic-violence calls in 2025 while operating 360 private shelter beds, the outlet noted.
Local researchers have been tracking a similar rise for years. A University of Houston study found Houston-area intimate-partner-violence homicides climbed from 32 in 2019 to 64 in 2022, while the number of households — generally mothers and children — requesting housing through the same system grew from 956 in 2021 to 1,307 in 2022, according to the University of Houston. That research also found Harris County had just 330 shelter beds compared with 3,500 in New York City, a city with twice the population.
Harris County residents can find local resources, shelter options and safety-planning guidance through the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council at hcdvcc.org. Anyone in immediate danger should call 911 if it is safe to do so.
