Our Mission

The Women's Resource Center provides education, support, counseling, housing and advocacy - through community collaboration - to end domestic and sexual violence and promote an equitable, safe environment for all.

Service Area

The WRC serves a population of 142,046 located in five counties in northwest Lower Michigan. This service area includes Southern Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska and Leelanau counties and covers nearly 1,700 square miles.

History

The Women's Resource Center (WRC) began in 1975 as a grassroots effort to serve survivors of domestic and sexual violence, utilizing an all-volunteer staff. The WRC opened its first emergency shelter in 1984. In 1993 the emergency shelter program moved into a larger facility, increasing capacity from 12 to 22 beds. In 1998 the WRC began its transitional housing program, which currently offers housing and supportive services throughout its service area in agency owned facilities and through rental subsidies to third party landlords. In 2004 the WRC's Doula Teen Parent Program formed a partnership with the Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) to ensure the continuation of that program. TCAPS donates space for Doula and its baby pantry, and the WRC provides the staff and volunteers. In 2007, a group of local service providers and the WRC re-opened Sara's House, a specialized transitional housing program for survivors of domestic violence and their children when the adult survivor also is in need of substance abuse treatment.

In the early 1990's, the WRC made a commitment to increase access to its services and began to shift to a decentralized service delivery model that focuses on providing services in communities throughout its service area. In 2006 – 07 the WRC served nearly 1,500 survivors of domestic and sexual violence:

• 369 adults and children received emergency and longer-term housing, including 6602 nights of emergency shelter in Helen's House and nearly 16,000 nights of shelter in the WRC's transitional and permanent supportive housing programs, a 257% increase since 2000.
• The WRC served 263 seniors, a 396% increase over 2000.
• The WRC provided nearly 7600 hours of one-on-one and group support and received nearly 4000 calls on its 24-hour crisis line.

In addition, the M.E.N.S. (Men Exploring Non-Violent Solutions) and A.W.A.R.E.
(A Women's Anger Reduction & Empowerment) Programs served 337 clients, a 125% increase over 2000. Requests for awareness presentations, education, and training doubled.

The success of this model also required a commitment to building community partnerships in the public and private sectors so survivors and their children can access the resources they need to remain in their home communities safely. Current initiatives include

• a national demonstration project with Child & Family Services and the Friend of the Court to enhance supervised visitation and custody exchange in domestic violence cases;
• the implementation of the 86th District Court's Domestic Violence Court
• the Community Family Law Clinic with Legal Services of Northern Michigan (LSNM) and the local bar association;
• a partnership to better coordinate civil legal services for the working poor, which includes Third Level Crisis Center, the bar association and LSNM;
• Sara's House, for mothers with children who need a safe place to live while they are receiving substance abuse treatment; and
• a project to enhance the coordination and collaboration between the WRC, Child Protective Services and others child welfare service providers in domestic violence cases.

After over 30 years of service, the WRC is known as the area's primary service provider for domestic and sexual violence survivors, assisting residential and non-residential clients with support, advocacy, and immediate crisis intervention. The agency is also the acknowledged area expert on domestic violence and sexual assault and annually provides approximately 150 public awareness, prevention, education and awareness activities for allied professionals and agencies, civic groups and schools.

Our Board
Jo Bullis, Executive Director
Marcia Bellinger Jerry Cannon Ed Carlson Heather Blanton-Dykstra Nicholeen Frusti Jean Howard Cynthia Klingler Gary Moss		Tim Nelson Dennis Piskor Rachel Brochert Roe Michael Ruble Kathleen Shannon Ralph Soffredine Mike Stepka Jan Warren

Contact Us

Email Us
231.941.1210
800.554.4972