Community to honor shelter’s long-time chief

On Thursday, Jan. 12, community members have been invited to gather and celebrate Kate McGuckin's 26 years of service to My Sister's Place, the shelter for victims of domestic violence serving Athens, Hocking, and Vinton counties.

According to a news release, an open house will be held at the Dairy Barn Arts Center, and light refreshments will be served from 4 to 6 p.m.

McGuckin earlier this year announced that she was retiring as executive director of My Sister's Place, a position that she had held since 1984. Kelly Cooke has replaced McGuckin as director of MSP.

Founded in May of 1977 as a two-bedroom, 1,600-square-foot facility, My Sister's Place was the first shelter in the state and the third agency in the state to attain mental-health licensure, according to the news release. McGuckin led MSP to purchase a larger 4,500-square-foot home with 10 beds. In 1992, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence recognized MSP as a model rural program.

Among many accolades, according to the release, McGuckin is a recipient of the NOW Ohio Education and Service Award and served on a delegation of battered-women advocates who traveled to Leningrad, Russia, to talk to advocates and to Northern Ireland to present to the Parliament about domestic violence. She served as president of Action Ohio, and in October, received the Rita Gillick Mental Health Advocate Award presented by the Athens-Hocking-Vinton 317 Board.

In the release, Jean Demosky, board president, urged, "Please join the MSP Board of Trustees in congratulating Kate for her decades of devotion to mental health in southeastern Ohio. Kate's contributions to the community have benefited thousands of people across the region, and her leadership will be deeply missed."

My Sister's Place offers comprehensive services for victims of physical or emotional abuse, including a toll-free hotline, emergency shelter, court advocacy, outreach counseling and outpatient services to perpetrators of domestic violence.