Safe House for Women's new office, thrift store to open Monday

Charlie Harrison has a tough decision to make as she settles into her office at the Safe House for Women's new location.

Harrison, who is a counselor for the organization, needs to lay out her new environment. The decisions she has to make -- which lamp goes where, which wall her many diplomas and accolades go on -- may not seem like tough choices, but they are all made knowing the priority is not about her own preference.

Every decision is made based on the effect it might have on the broken women who will walk through that door. Her new office must have just the right ambience and comfort to allow victims of domestic abuse to open up to her during sessions, she said.

Harrison's toughest decision is choosing where a two-foot-long brass cutout of the word "believe" will go. Among the lamps, diplomas and chairs in her spacious new digs, Harrison wants the word to be the most prominent decoration when victims step into her office.

"They've got to believe in themselves, and sometimes they don't," Harrison said, holding the cutout. "Domestic abuse is not only about broken bones and bruises. It can be a broken spirit."

Judy Schneider labels a section of novels Friday afternoon at the Safe House for Women Thrift Shop at their new location of 230 N. Spring St. in Cape Girardeau. Schneider has been volunteering at the resale store for the past five years. (Laura Simon)

Harrison is one of eight Safe House employees who is moving from the organization's old 4,800-square-foot office and thrift store at 1810 E. Plaza Way to its new 10,000-square-foot complex at 230 N. Spring St. The move comes after the organization spent more than four years in its old location, Safe House executive director Linda Garner said.

"We underestimated support from the community and the increase in the number of [abuse victims and thrift store customers] we saw," Garner said.

The new office and thrift store will officially open Monday.

The Safe House for Women had been looking for a new building for roughly a year, Garner said. The Spring Street location is more accessible to victims and thrift store customers but still close enough to the old building that the organization will not lose business.

The Spring Street site has new insulation and heating, Garner said.

The Safe House for Women was started in 1991 by a grassroots group of citizens whose goal was to provide a refuge from domestic violence for women and their children. It also operates a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week hotline for abuse victims and a shelter that can accommodate up to 22 people. The shelter's location remains undisclosed to protect victims from their abuser.

The agency receives money from taxes on marriage certificates and divorces and from state and local grants. The new building's rent is $4,300 a month, compared to $2,700 at the old location. Safe House pays the rent with money earned from the thrift shop, while its employees are funded through grants and donations, Garner said.

The thrift shop will thrive in the bigger space, Garner said, noting that the store will be better able to accept larger donated items, like furniture.

The new shop has a designated area for higher priced and "better labeled" clothing, according to a news release. The pricing range for other clothing will remain the same.

The thrift shop accepts ready-to-wear clothing, housewares and furniture, according to the release.

The new space also has a playroom for children who accompany women to the office, Garner said. At the old location, children were only allowed to play in the lobby.

Jeannie Miller, a part-time child counselor, will finally have her own office space after being a nomad at the old location for more than a year.

"I love it here," Miller said of the new building. "Before, I was just floating around from room to room looking for an open space."

Miller said the move gives her more clients more privacy in a safer, more consistent environment.

Becky Holloway, the agency's legal advocate, said a camera outside the facility allows her clients to meet with her without fear of their assailant showing up. When women show up at the facility's side door to discuss their legal strategy against their abuser with Holloway, Holloway can now identify them via the camera and unlock the door accordingly.

Disgruntled lovers often showed up at the old office location to confront their estranged partner or Safe House employees, Holloway said. With the new camera system in place, Holloway and other employees can monitor who is visiting the office and forbid any unwanted visitors from entering.

"It's important to feel safe here," Holloway said.

The Safe House has seen a steady increase in the people it has helped, Holloway said.

In 2009, the hotline received 579 calls and the shelter, which is in an undisclosed location in Cape Girardeau, housed 83 clients. In 2010, the hotline received 721 calls and the shelter housed 75 clients. The hotline was on pace last year to meet 2010's mark with 656 calls through Oct. 13. Cumulative 2011 hotline statistics were not immediately available because of the move to the new location.

The agency's Cape Girardeau shelter is constantly near capacity, shelter director Allison Leonard said. Domestic abuse is growing in Southeast Missouri because of the economy, Leonard said.

However, most of the women Safe House helps are outside the shelter. Safe House counselor Harrison said she has helped several hundred people deal with domestic abuse from the confines of her office.

"Sometimes they never get over it," she said. "Something may trigger memories -- sounds, smell, sights -- then the sympathetic nervous system goes into effect."

Harrison said that while her new office will help create a comfortable environment, she would counsel a victim anywhere.

"The ambience and rapport are important and need to be built quickly," she said. "But I can do my work in a closet if that's what it takes."

psullivan@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

230 N. Spring St., Cape Girardeau, MO

1810 E. Plaza Way, Cape Girardeau, MO