PADV in the News

"Shelters for abused women feel effects of slow economy"

Cobb program reports no room; others say victims in need of financial help, too

Atlanta Journal-Constitution
October 21, 2008

By Tucker McQueen, Kay Powell

The head of a program that helps abused women in Cobb County worries that recent economic woes will add to cases of domestic violence.

Holly Comer, executive director of the YWCA of Northwest Georgia, said the numbers are already alarming.

The YWCA is sponsoring a candlelight vigil 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday on the Marietta Square to remember 130 victims who were killed in Georgia last year and to honor women who survived domestic violence.

“This violence is epidemic, and this is only the tip of the iceberg,” Comer said. “A lot goes on behind closed doors we don’t hear about.”

For two weeks in August, there were no beds available anywhere in Georgia in shelters that help women fleeing domestic violence, she said. The YWCA’s program didn’t have room in its 32-bed shelter then for a woman with two children.

“We are seeing more crisis calls, and it’s a telltale sign when there are no beds available,” Comer said. “A year ago, we were two-thirds full. Now, we’re staying full.”

The YWCA runs the only battered women’s shelter in Cobb County. Opened in 1978, it was the first battered women’s shelter in Georgia.

Cathy Spraetz heads the Partnership Against Domestic Violence, which operates a 32-bed shelter in Gwinnett County and a 41-bed shelter in Fulton County. A bad economy does affect domestic violence programs, she said, but not in the way most people would think.

“What we do find when the economy is in a downturn is that people are less financially stable and stay in shelters longer,” Spraetz said.

“It is really important for people to understand that a downturn in the economy and the stress that comes from that does not cause domestic violence,” she said. “Domestic violence is about power and control.”

Cherokee County's Family Violence Center can provide emergency shelter to 12 women and children, said executive director Meg Rogers. It has 69 women and 158 children in transitional housing, and there is a waiting list.

“We’ve seen an incredible increase in visits from people needing financial assistance,” Rogers said. “We really see options disintegrating.”

Last year, the Cobb YWCA answered 2,854 crisis calls, served 293 women and children in emergency shelter and transitional housing, and helped 454 people get protective orders. The average stay is 45-60 days, Comer said, and any given day 10-20 children may be housed at the shelter.

The YWCA relies on the public for support and receives help from victims of violence. Larissa Camp volunteers in the domestic violence program and will share her survival story at Thursday’s event.

Camp’s abusive boyfriend shot her twice with a shotgun, then killed himself. She lost the four fingers on her right hand and part of her palm. Camp left Missouri for Atlanta to make a fresh start and to find a place to help other survivors.

“I wanted an opportunity to talk to men and women who find themselves in that situation, to share my testimony,” she said. “I want to tell them you’re able to get out. There are resources available.”

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