My Sister's Place gets timely financial jolt from federal stimulus money

My Sister's Place received about $34,000 in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It plans to use the funds to hire a coordinating counselor to help build bridges with people in each county the organization supports, said Kate McGuckin, executive director of the Athens shelter for victims of domestic violence.

In fiscal year 2008, the shelter lost $40,000 of Title 20 funds from the Ohio Department of Job and Family services. The stimulus funds, as well as increased support from the community, have helped offset the cuts.

The shelter was one of few such facilities to receive stimulus funds, and even with the cash infusion the shelter struggles with strategizing how to maintain the position after the funds run out, McGuckin said.

"It puts a huge burden on shelters that are already underfunded," she said. "We're not a money-making enterprise. How are we going to create and maintain jobs?"

Because of funding cuts, the shelter recently had to close its two outreach centers in Hocking and Vinton counties. So many victims' only opportunity for support requires them to drive up to 50 miles to Athens to see a counselor. The distance makes it difficult for victims who cannot get away from their abusers for that amount of time, even if they have enough gas money, McGuckin said.

About 50 percent of appointments scheduled by victims from communities outside of Athens, where the outreach centers had closed, were no-shows. Of those that did, virtually 100 percent never returned, McGuckin said.

The coordinating counselor will help set up a network of satellite centers where victims can meet with counselors close to their home community, McGuckin said. With the addition of the counseling coordinator, McGuckin said she hopes to reinvigorate the advisory boards within each county and reopen the outreach centers in Hocking and Vinton counties through new donated spaces. The advisory boards incorporate members of each community to collaborate on each county's needs.

"The personality of each county we serve, Athens, Hocking and Vinton, is different," she said. "They just have different barriers and they might find different options better to solve their problems."

Victims who live in Athens have better access to public transportation, and a hospital might have a very different safety plan than what would be available to a victim in Vinton County where there is no hospital and no public transportation, McGuckin said.

The advisory boards consist of representatives from, but not limited to, law enforcement, government, medical personnel, the LGBT community, and Disability Services.

"We can really benefit from their knowledge," McGuckin said.

The counseling coordinator will also conduct emergency assessments of victims when in the area, as well as organize counseling schedules to reduce the amount of time between a victim's call for help and an appointment with a counselor.

"If you call and you have to wait two weeks for an appointment, that's not serving the needs of somebody who's in imminent danger," McGuckin said.

If My Sister's Place can use the funds wisely and can sustain growth by increasing counseling hours, they can get more funding from Medicaid and hopefully use that revenue to support the growth after the stimulus funds run out. Future goals for My Sister's Place include expanding the treatment for victims of domestic violence.

"My one wish would be to give raises to all the staff this year," McGuckin said.