Supports shifting to meet changing client needs

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Sojourner House staff, including from left, Executive Director Vanessa Volz, Manager of Immigration Advocacy Gloria Greenfield, Director of Operations Sarah DeCataldo, intern Grace McClenticy and Volunteer Coordinator Elizabeth Dugan, are focused on finding solutions to domestic and sexual violence through advocacy and ministering to the needs of victims. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Sojourner House staff, including from left, Executive Director Vanessa Volz, Manager of Immigration Advocacy Gloria Greenfield, Director of Operations Sarah DeCataldo, intern Grace McClenticy and Volunteer Coordinator Elizabeth Dugan, are focused on finding solutions to domestic and sexual violence through advocacy and ministering to the needs of victims. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Sojourner House was founded in the mid-1970s by Providence residents and Brown University students, recent alumnae and staff members concerned about the prevalence of domestic violence but the lack of community resources available to deal with it.

“The agency was initially completely volunteer-run and offered limited programming,” said Vanessa Volz, executive director since 2011. “But in the 1980s, it grew to include paid staff, and the agency acquired a building that was converted into an emergency shelter, or safe house, which is still used today.”

In 2002, Sojourner House opened Providence’s only drop-in and advocacy center for domestic violence aid.

According to Volz, the agency’s residential program in particular has grown over the last five years and now includes not only an emergency shelter, but also transitional housing, a shelter for male victims, permanent supportive housing, and by the end of the year, housing for victims of trafficking.

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“In August,” Volz said, “we expanded our mission statement to reflect the fact that the work that we are doing is helping victims of not only domestic violence, but sexual violence as well.”

With 11 full-time staff members and three part-timers, the agency is in the process of hiring another full-timer, and possibly two more part-timers.

Revenue at the end of the 2015 fiscal year approached $750,000; and while the financial statements are not yet final for this year, Volz expects the agency to exceed $970,000.

Its client base, she said, is varied.

“Our clients are primarily victims and survivors of domestic abuse and/or sexual violence,” Volz said. “Many come to us in an emergency, having recently experienced a crisis. Others have already left an abusive situation but need ongoing support and resources. Sometimes family members or friends also reach out to us to ask how they can be supportive of a loved one who is in an abusive situation.”

Offering programming and support beyond its housing programs and drop-in center, Sojourner House also provides free, confidential HIV testing and education, financial literacy workshops, youth programming (including parenting classes), and prevention and educational programs designed primarily for middle and high school students.

The agency’s immigration advocacy program for undocumented victims of abuse received an Innovation Award from the Rhode Island Foundation in May.

Kelly Henry, the agency’s manager of residential advocacy, says family and friends often assume that the work she does must be draining or depressing.

“I find it to be the opposite,” Henry said. “I am passionate about working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence because they have so much hope and resiliency. I am very lucky to be able to witness the amazing growth and change that my clients and their families go through.”

Sojourner House is always looking to create innovative solutions to help underserved communities, including LGBTQ, undocumented, men and survivors of human trafficking. According to Henry, a huge part of the agency’s effort involves the ability to innovate.

“Domestic and sexual violence have been part of our society for a very long time,” Henry said. “In order to find solutions, we are going to have to keep at it and find new ways to change systems and attitudes about intimate partner violence.”

Volz echoed the sentiment: “We’re not afraid to try new things and develop new programs, especially when we realize that there are groups that are being underserved and need our help.” •

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