Safeline Receives Two Grants, Expands Services, Collaborates
By Cornelia Cesari

2007 has been a year of tremendous growth for Safeline. Under new Executive Director Nancy Lynch, the organization has moved back to Chelsea and drastically expanded, adding services and collaborating with other organizations.

The receipt of two large federal grants will enable Safeline to do some groundbreaking work in supporting abused women beyond the initial crisis.

Nika Graci is the Economic Justice and Legal Advocate. Her job, says Lynch, is "really to walk beside the woman and support her in achieving her goals." Often the hurdles are financial, as much as emotional; securing housing can be difficult.

The three-year $255,000 Federal Transitional Housing Grant received by Safeline will be used in three ways: to fund advocacy provided by Graci, to supply funds when a woman needs a security deposit or rent to get back on her feet, and to establish a community-wide planning committee to explore Orange County’s housing needs.

This committee will focus on the need for a shelter or safe house (currently there are none), but will also look at the shortage of affordable housing for all. So far, the committee is comprised of a coalition, including VT Works for Women and Central VT Coalition for the Homeless.

A two-year $300,000 Federal Legal Grant will allow Safeline to establish its own legal department, with an attorney, a legal advocate, and support staff as needed. Lynch recognizes that this is a unique and ambitious undertaking.

"We’ve gone from a budget of under $100,000 to almost half a million," she said. "I’m aware of the danger of expanding too rapidly, and I know we need to secure local sources of funding to carry through these programs."

The backbone of Safeline is its hotline number, the first 800 number in the state, which was established over 20 years ago as "Help for Battered Women." That hotline is still in service; in fact, trained volunteers fielded over 1,000 calls last year. The line is not only for emergency situations, but is available to anyone questioning a relationship, concerned about a neighbor, or just needing to talk to someone.

However, Safeline’s support goes further than that. Volunteers also provide personal advocacy any time of day or night. Often they help victims through the process of filing Relief From Abuse Orders (RFA), or stay with rape victims at the hospital during their exams. About 500 residents of Orange County and the upper tiers of Windsor County were supported in person through some crisis in the last year.

One new program, in conjunction with the Community Partnership of Orange and Windsor (CPOW) is the Incarcerated Women’s Initiative. "About 90% of incarcerated women are victims of abuse," Lynch estimates, "so this is within our mission as well." Safeline is providing training for volunteer mentors and matching them with newly released women. The time commitment is substantial—daily telephone contact and weekly meetings—but there is hope for a positive outcome.

Hoping to work on prevention, another project Safeline is taking on is the Men’s Initiative, circulating a petition for men to sign pledging not to abuse women or tolerate domestic violence. This drew attention at the Tunbridge Fair when Rusty DeWees publicly signed the pledge. Lynch described an active and vocal men’s initiative in Massachusetts, who parade their slogan, "Strong Men Don’t Bully."

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