A: Seventeen years. Artemis is 28 years old. I started here part-time as a advocate based out of Children's Services, then went back and got my master's in social work at OSU — my bachelor is in criminology, and I just fell into social work. I had done my practicum in the child therapy program at Artemis, and I knew this was the kind of work I wanted to keep doing. I became the director of the Family Violence Collaborative. When Nancy Grigsby, the founder of Artemis, was leaving, she had led the collaborative, too, and it worked out that I got the director's job. Here I am, nearly 11 years later.
Q: What does the collaborative do?
A: It was formed by Artemis and the YWCA in 1993 to educate and advocate with various systems that deal with domestic violence. For instance, if we become aware of a police response that isn't victim-friendly, we would work with them on that.
Q: Are you from here originally?
A: I'm from Erie, Pa., and moved here when my husband was transferred here. He passed away a few years ago, and he didn't have the opportunity to retire — so with a grandchild coming, and reaching that age when you think of what you're going to do with the rest of your life, retirement seemed right. This is a pretty big job. I will work very part time with a local psychologist who has a therapy practice. Very part time. My deal with the Artemis board was that I'd stay until May 16, or until they find somebody so there won't be an interim director.
Q: What sort of person should they be looking for?
A: It's a very varied type of position. In an agency as small as this, you're involved with personnel, programs, finances, fundraising — a pretty wide range. They also need somebody who's skilled at marketing and getting the message out as to who Artemis is and what we do. It's an interesting combination for one person, but it can happen.
Q: What’s the agency’s scope?
A: We have a staff of 18, excellent people, about two-thirds are clinical. Our budget is about $1.2 million, and it's decreased over the years. Our main funding is state and federal grant money, from the Justice Department funds that fight crimes against women. We also get funds from United Way and the Human Services levy. We see about 5,000 clients annually. About 200 to 300 are children we see individually. About 83 percent of the clients who come here have kids.
Q: How do clients reach you?
A: They either just show up at our door or they call the domestic violence hotline we share with the YWCA. It's 222-7233. We find some people via outreach.
Q: When a client contacts you, what is the process that begins?
A: We do a lethality assessment to try to determine just how immediate and great their danger is, and then work with them to devise a safety plan. It's individual for everyone, not cookie-cutter. We'll ask what they did to keep safe before, what worked and what did not, what things they should keep where they can take them if they have to leave quickly. We give the kids code words so they'll know to go to a safe place or call the police. If she's choosing to stay in the relationship or leave, that's totally up to her. We design a safety plan based on what she wants to do. People can come to see us any amount of time they want to — we may help them leave, and then watch them go right back.
Q: Is that common?
A: Women leave an average of seven times before they make the decision to really leave, or when they actually have the resources to do so. We help to the extent we're able — we'll change locks for people, sometimes we'll help get transportation out of town, or get them to a food pantry or started in a new place.
Q: You’re not a shelter.
A: No, the YWCA has a shelter. The services we provide are for people who aren't going to use shelter services, which is the vast majority. Most of our clients are looking for support, someone to talk to to help them figure out what to do.
Q: What sort of questions do they have?
A: For one, "Is this domestic violence, or is this normal to have in families?" As time goes on, they start to think about the possibility of leaving, or what it would be like to live on their own. We may tell them that they are in what we consider a very lethal situation, and that we are concerned about their safety, but we never tell anyone they have to leave.
Q: Why not?
A: Being in a relationship with domestic violence, somebody is always telling them what to do, and we try not to be someone else who's doing the same thing. Plus, if you're insistent about it and then the client decides to go back anyway, then they may not feel they can come back to us again, and we don't want them to feel that way.
Q: So, how prevalent is domestic violence?
A: It happens everywhere. Statistically, one in four women will experience it. There is a relatively high percentage of battering in police families, and military. Many people may think it only happens in low-income families, and the clients we see tend to be lower-income, but that's because the people who utilize social services tend to be from a lower socio-economic bracket; if you're better off, you may have easier access to an attorney, a minister or professional contacts who can advise you.
Q: Have you seen changes in the population you serve?
A: I think the situations we see are more serious now — in lethality and in the resources people need to become safe. It seems people are more reluctant to leave an unsafe relationship because they might not be able to find a job, and so she stays longer and longer, and the situation becomes worse.
Q: Has this job gotten harder or easier over the years?
A: Well, fundraising has gotten harder, and so that's made the job harder. That's true for all non-profits, I think. In terms of the issues we address, laws have changed so that police have to be more responsive. And there's been a change in attitude and perception over time — society has grown to be a bit more understanding about domestic violence, but we still find those individuals who ask, Why don't you just leave? as though it should be a very simple thing do to, which it is not. I do believe that as people become more educated, and our society becomes less patriarchal over time, domestic violence can be reduced. I don't know if it will ever be eliminated. When you have a child who grows up in a home where they see it, that is hard. Anybody raised in a family where women and girls aren't valued, the children learn to live what they live. Unless you can interrupt that generational cycle of violence, it won't change.
Q: What will you miss about the job?
A: I'll miss my colleagues, and being part of the social-service network in this community. I'll miss that feeling of being part of something very critical. I like that we have the ability to help change somebody's life — to know that what you're doing has an impact on someone's future. I think that's why people go into non-profits and social work.
Q: Advice for your successor?
A: I'll be on speed dial. But try to keep balance. That's the most difficult thing. When I started, my car was first in the lot and last to leave, and I was taking work home. That's a quick path to burnout. Anybody in this job has to be able to balance and say, That is good enough for today.
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