In-person and remote resources for those suffering from domestic abuse are still available throughout Athens County during the coronavirus pandemic.
Those experiencing domestic abuse who are living in Athens can reach out to My Sister’s Place and the Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program.
My Sister’s Place is a domestic violence agency that provides services for Athens, Hocking and Vinton counties. Emergency shelter is provided for victims of domestic violence, including adults and children. My Sister’s Place also provides outreach counseling, court advocacy and a 24/7 hotline.
The agency is trying to help as many survivors of abuse as possible find permanent housing, but its emergency shelter is still open.
“Right now we’ve decided to take only as many residents as we have separate bedroom and bathroom facilities so that we can not have so many people in the shelter at once,” Kelly Cooke, executive director of My Sister’s Place, said. “And then for people who are calling for shelter, we are trying to kind of creatively problem solve with people about where else they might stay instead of coming to the shelter.”
Half of the original victims who were staying at the emergency shelter before the stay-at-home order were able to find permanent housing, and the other half are still at the shelter, Cooke said.
My Sister’s Place is still offering counseling via telephone or Telehealth.
“We would still encourage people to reach out for counseling services,” Cooke said. “We can help people develop safety plans over the phone to try to keep them safe while they are still living with an abusive partner.”
The Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program is a confidential rape crisis center serving survivors or sexual violence, stalking and sex trafficking in Southeast Ohio, Jennifer Seifert, director of the Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program, or SAOP, said.
The stay-at-home order is potentially dangerous for those suffering from domestic abuse since they may not be able to leave their homes if they live with an abuser.
SAOP is helping victims implement safety plans, which sometimes involve the survivor leaving the abusive home, Seifert said. There are also times when the victim does not leave. The survivor, children and pets are at the greatest risk of harm by the abuser when the victim leaves or mentions it, Seifert said.
“While the stay at home order is novel to our communities, survivors not being able to safely leave their homes/relationships is not,” Seifert said in an email. “Therefore, we help survivors craft a safety plan, as we would any other time, and support survivors in implementing that plan which can, but not always, include leaving the home/relationship.”
As an essential business, SAOP is still providing all of the services they did prior to the stay-at-home order, Seifert said. Any of the services that SAOP can provide remotely will be continued, and SAOP will still be doing in-person meetings with clients to provide services that cannot be done remotely.
All of SAOP’s staff has transferred to telecommuting. However, Seifert said this isn’t a huge change in SAOP’s normal operations.
“As our service area encompasses 7 counties in southeast Ohio, our advocates spend a great deal of time out of the office and in the field. Thus, the transition to working from home was relatively quick and smooth for our organization,” Seifert said in an email.
After the stay-at-home order was announced, both My Sister’s Place and SAOP have noticed a decrease in people calling and reporting domestic abuse and clients. Many programs around the state are experiencing the same decrease, Seifert said.
“We’ve actually noticed a decrease in the number of calls, and we’re seeing that’s because people are stuck at home with abusive partners and are not able to call us,” Cooke said. “People will often call from other service agencies or a doctor’s office, or work, someplace other than home. We’re thinking that people aren’t able to call.”
My Sister’s Place has created a text line for people who are not able to call. The text line is available 24/7 and can be reached at 740-517-9224. My Sister’s Place can also be reached through Facebook Messenger as well as by email at info@mspathens.org.
