Changemakers is a column that highlights the work of local nonprofit organizations serving Athens County.
ATHENS COUNTY, Ohio –– Stephanie* clearly remembers the night less than two years ago when she arrived at the doorstep of My Sister’s Place, a domestic violence shelter in Athens.
“My nervous system was shot. I’m running, I’m running with five children, and I’m running to make sure he doesn’t find us and do anything crazy,” she recalled.
Although My Sister’s Place knew she was coming, Stephanie had to first ring the doorbell and wait outside. After she and her children entered the shelter, she heard the door shut and the alarm system indicated that the door was locked.
“That was such a comforting sound,” she said.
Although she grew up in a house with domestic violence and drug abuse, Stephanie did not initially recognize that she was in an abusive relationship with her husband, whom she met at age 18. It started with financial and emotional abuse.
“A lot of abuse went unnoticed by others … even by me, actually,” she says.
The abuse escalated into physical abuse. Ironically, her husband would taunt her about calling My Sister’s Place. She sometimes called the police, who also gave her a pamphlet about the local domestic violence agency.
Through her blended family, Stephanie was already a mother of five, and her greatest fear about leaving her abuser was that she would lose her children, which is one of the most common reasons parents, mostly women, do not leave their abusers. But she finally did.
Providing shelter
Stephanie is not the only one. In fiscal year 2024, My Sister’s Place answered more than 2,000 calls to its hotline. The organization provided counseling to 73 people outside of the shelter and court advocacy to 121 people in Athens, Hocking and Vinton Counties.
“For some folks, getting a protection order is all they need. And then they feel safe enough to live on their own,” Kelly Madewell, executive director of My Sister’s Place, said. “Our court advocate can help with filing for protection orders, accompanying folks through the court process, which can be intimidating and confusing.”
MSP also provided more than 4,500 nights of shelter in the fiscal year 2024. This included housing 77 adults and 54 children through two means. Most were housed in MSP’s shelter and transitional house, both of which are in undisclosed locations.
Through My Sister’s Paws, MSP can accommodate pets as well — pets can be another reason people don’t leave their abusers. About 10% of these nights of shelter were through vouchers for individuals and families to stay in a local hotel.
The number of people requesting emergency housing has risen over the years since MSP was founded in 1977; last year, MSP turned away more than 250 adults and nearly 150 children.
“When we see how our numbers have risen over the years, it’s hard to tease out what that means,” Madewell said.
“Does it mean (domestic violence) happens more? I don’t think so at all. I think from the time of our founding when the phrase ‘domestic violence’ was just becoming a phrase, a concept, to now – I think most young people know the basics of red flags in a relationship. That’s been a massive shift,” she said.
For five years, MSP has been accessing funds from the Ohio Domestic Violence Network to provide vouchers to put people in hotel rooms for emergency shelter, largely with Covid-era funding.
That track record allowed Madewell to make recommendations to the Housing Security Co-Create Group facilitated by the Athens County Foundation. The Co-Create group is a collection of some 60 nonprofits and individuals with different interests and expertise in housing and homelessness issues.
The collective supported a successful grant application by Hocking Athens Perry Community Action (HAPCAP) to purchase the Sunset Hotel to turn it into a homeless shelter. But there are still pressing short-term needs and potential solutions. Hotel vouchers are one of these.
“A lesson we have learned that I have been able to convey to the group (is that) a room for one night doesn’t go very far, that you need to couple that resource with case management, someone who can help plan next steps,” Madewell said. “You’re just gonna burn through money really fast if there’s not an exit plan.”
The Ohio Domestic Violence Network Funding is uncertain about if and how much it will continue to provide. My Sister’s Place could use community support to keep the hotel vouchers going. Individuals and organizations can donate directly to MSP or to the Athens County Housing Security Fund, which includes money for hotel vouchers. MSP also has a wish list for donations on its website. Items always accepted include things like bath towels, toilet paper and Bluetooth earbuds.
MSP holds volunteer orientations twice a year, at the start of each semester to accommodate its many Ohio University volunteers.
Moving forward
Today, Stephanie sits behind her desk at a nonprofit organization in Nelsonville. She’s the ultimate professional: nicely dressed, articulate, helpful. Nothing about her indicates what she’s been through. But she’s been through a lot, even after leaving her abuser.
First, it was finding out after arriving at the shelter that she was pregnant. Then it was living at the shelter for just over three months with her children. While it may seem like a stressful situation to live in communal housing with others who have been through similarly traumatic experiences, Stephanie describes the time fondly.
“There are friendships made, there’s bonds made,” Stephanie says, “It’s a really supportive community, especially if you have children.”
Shelter volunteers played with her kids and baked with them. In the meantime, MSP helped Stephanie find housing. A counselor encouraged her to become a peer mentor, and the next day she went to The Gathering Place and started working toward becoming a certified peer recovery supporter. She then got work through HAPCAP’s Subsidized Employment Program.
Today, Stephanie has a new job, a home, a car, and better mental health. She is still in the process of divorce.
“To say that I’m in a position now where I’m not only financially stable but ready to advance in my career and my life with my children, I owe to God and My Sister’s Place and what they did at that shelter,” Stephanie said.
“I thought all I had was my kids moving forward, but My Sister’s Place is still active in my life moving forward, helping any way they can.”
*We are using Stephanie’s first name only to protect her privacy and safety.
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