Women and Children in Jeopardy

I am not sure how we can let this happen. The spiral of so many things start in abusive
situations. If we do not stop the beginning of the spiral we will never catch up with the problems.

11/29/09 7:52 AM
Shelters for women in jeopardy | The Columbus Dispatch
Page 1 of 3
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/26/DV_Shelter.ART_ART_11-26-09_B1_ALFQANV.html
COURTNEY
HERGESHEIMER | DISPATCH
Jennifer and her children spent
six months at New Directions,
a Mount Vernon domestic-
violence shelter.
|
Shelters for women in jeopardy
Lack of steady revenue menaces homes for battered women
Thursday, November 26, 2009 3:26 AM
BY JILL RIEPENHOFF
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A shelter for battered women in Knox County turned away 25
abuse victims a month last year.
There wasn't enough room at New Directions.
For those women -- many with children -- the best the shelter
could offer was money to cover a night or two in a motel. With
nowhere else to go, most returned to their abusive homes.
Knox County, about an hour northeast of Columbus, is not an
anomaly. On one day last fall, domestic-violence shelters across
Ohio turned away a total of 58 victims because they didn't have
room.
Advocates worry that the demand will worsen because Ohio's 72
shelters don't have enough money to meet victims' needs. Some
teeter on extinction.
Unlike domestic-violence shelters in half of the other states,
Ohio's are not funded by the state or through court fees and fines.
Their income is from a mix of federal and private sources --
money that is dwindling in the flagging economy.
The Dispatch analyzed federal tax returns from 45 nonprofit
domestic-violence shelters in the state and, after adjusting for
inflation, found that:
• More than a third of the shelters are bringing in less money than
they did five years ago. Among those is Choices, the only
domestic-violence shelter in Franklin County. Its revenue has
declined 14 percent in that time.
11/29/09 7:52 AM
Shelters for women in jeopardy | The Columbus Dispatch
Page 2 of 3
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/26/DV_Shelter.ART_ART_11-26-09_B1_ALFQANV.html
|
• More than a third posted deficits on their most-recently filed tax
return, including seven of the 11 shelters in central Ohio.
• Of the shelters that ended the year in the red, the median
amount of reserves was about $32,000. In central Ohio, the median amount of reserves was less
than $8,000.
• The median increase in revenue in the past five years was 8 percent, while expenses remained
relatively unchanged.
The financial data, however, don't show the real story, said Nancy Neylon, executive director of the
Ohio Domestic Violence Network.
Shelters across the state have laid off or furloughed workers to try to make ends meet. Some no
longer have 24-hour staffing. Some employees are volunteering to staff the crisis hot lines;
otherwise, there would be no one to answer a call from a victim in trouble.
"Without a solution, a number of them will close within the next three years," Neylon said.
The situation troubles Gov. Ted Strickland.
"There are many social needs that are going without the level of resources they need or even that
they had in the past. In part, it's a result of the economy," Strickland said. "It's a troubling thing.
Sometimes, these shelters are the only real way these victims can be kept safe, because if the
aggressor knows the whereabouts, it can be dangerous to them and the children."
Thirteen years ago, a task force assembled by Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer
studied Ohio's response to domestic violence and found problems with funding for programs.
The task force recommended that legislators mandate court fines for convicted batterers and
allocate the money to domestic-violence programs. The suggestion fell on deaf ears.
Ohio's shelters rely on fees from marriage and divorce licenses. It's been one of their largest
revenue streams.
However, the state's population is stagnant, limiting fee revenue from marriages and breakups. The
state's population also is shifting: A shelter in Cleveland has lost $100,000 because of the exodus
from Cuyahoga County, Neylon said.
Other funding comes from federal grants and the United Way, both of which have reduced support.
And Bernie Madoff, the New York investor who swindled numerous people out of billions in a years-
long Ponzi scheme, has done significant damage. Many foundations that made huge financial
contributions to social- service agencies shut down after losing all their money to Madoff. Domestic-
violence shelters across the country suffered as a result, said Nancy Grigsby, economic-
empowerment director for the Ohio Domestic Violence Network.
"It's fair to ask shelters to go out and raise money, but they need a base," Grigsby said. "It's a long-
standing problem that (state legislators) haven't invested in domestic-violence services in this
state."
11/29/09 7:52 AM
Shelters for women in jeopardy | The Columbus Dispatch
Page 3 of 3
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/26/DV_Shelter.ART_ART_11-26-09_B1_ALFQANV.html
©2009, The Columbus Dispatch, Reproduction prohibited
The demand for help continues to climb. In 2006, Ohio domestic-violence programs helped nearly
1,700 victims. In 2008, that number topped 2,100, an increase of almost 30 percent. Calls to crisis
hot lines increased 20 percent.
In March, Neylon's organization surveyed 30 domestic-violence programs in Ohio and discovered
the financial situation was even bleaker: Nearly two-thirds projected a year-end deficit, twice as
many as last year. More than half the programs received less private money. More than 40 percent
laid off employees. And more than a third cut services.
At the shelter in Knox County, executive director Mary Hendrickson is trying to figure out how to
make ends meet for the next few years. Her shelter already is too small to meet the demand. She
can house two families at a time. By comparison, CHOICES in Franklin County can take up to 30
victims.
This year, Hendrickson has eliminated one position. She fears another will be lost because it was
funded with federal stimulus money.
She is looking for new ways to raise money, including hosting a golf outing that could add as much
as $5,500 to New Directions' $440,000 budget.
"We have to be creative," she said. "One of our board members ... is exploring converting the
second floor of her old home into a shelter."
Hendrickson knows that providing a haven helps victims escape. Two-thirds of the victims who have
stayed at New Directions were able to leave their abusers for good.
Jennifer is one of them. She and her five children lived at the shelter for six months after her
husband transferred his long-standing rage from his wife to his daughter.
"I'd be back with him if I didn't stay here," said the 37-year-old woman, who asked that her full
name not be publicized out of fear for her safety. "We all got counseling. My kids are more
affectionate now. They talk to me more. They want to sit on the couch and snuggle."
Last winter, Jennifer moved her family into its own place. She is working on a degree in nursing.
She'll graduate next fall, almost two years after moving into New Directions.
jriepenhoff@dispatch.com