THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 24, 1994 TAG: 9410240048
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: United Way
Part of a series profiling agencies
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
There is a refuge from hurt and pain, away from the hitting and the rage, a secret place where abused women and their children can come for aid and comfort.
But from the street, says Cheryl Bonneville, director of the YWCA's Women in Crisis Program of South Hampton Roads, the shelter looks just like any other home. Unseen are hidden state-of-the-art security systems, including video surveillance cameras, that guard against intruders.
``It's very secure,'' she says. ``We've never had an incident and we've been here 11 years. We'll call the police in a heartbeat.''
That's 11 years of providing a safe haven so that women can get back on their feet emotionally and financially. Bonneville and her staff provide a clean bed, food, clothing, toothpaste, deodorant: anything and everything needed to get through the day.
``When a woman comes in, she's thrown back to a survival state,'' Bonneville says. ``She usually just brings the clothes on her back. We have to counsel her through a major life change.''
That change may be a bus ticket out of the area, to relatives' homes or to another shelter. It may mean a move to a furnished apartment or rental house. It will more than likely mean the end of a relationship that, however injurious, the abused is often reluctant to leave.
The shelter is designed to accommodate 25, although on occasion it has housed 35. A detached garage contains a licensed day care center. Bonneville says that by year's end an estimated 800 women and children will spend at least one night in the YWCA shelter.
Of the $350,000 the program received from the United Way this year, 80 percent went to fund shelter operations. The remaining 20 percent underwrote a 24-hour hot line, community education programs, support groups for abused women and court-mandated counseling for abusers.
``We couldn't do it without the United Way,'' Bonneville says. ``They're administratively and financially supportive. They've funded our shelter for 11 years. It wouldn't be there otherwise.''
No one hopes more than Bonneville that the day will come when shelters won't be necessary. Such a day, however, seems a long way off. Although she praises the police and court systems in Norfolk for their sensitivity and responsiveness to family violence, Bonneville and her staff see increasing numbers of women and children seeking sanctuary at the YWCA facility.
``Our awareness of abuse - our ability to look at it, discuss it and deal with it - is increasing,'' she says. ``At least, it is out there now, in the open. Our socialization of men is gradually changing, such that they see women as equals and not as objects. Hopefully, women will stop tolerating abusive relationships.''
KEYWORDS: UNITED WAY by CNB