GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A social services organization in West Michigan is reporting an increase in time spent responding to calls to their 24/7 crisis hotline in the last two years from survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking.
Safe Haven Ministries knows there are more survivors out there that need their help, and a fundraiser coming up in May will help them get more support for those who need it.
"We know the loss of connection does give vulnerability to the increase of intimate partner violence and violence in our community," Executive Director Rachel VerWys says.
Since March 2020, the organization has seen a nearly 30 percent increase in time spent responding to crisis calls to their 24/7 hotline.
"Last year, our annual report showed that we had over 2,000 crisis contacts in our community," she says.
On top of that, more families have needed to stay at their emergency shelter for a longer period of time.
"We had a number of families stay here for an average length of 54 days, so we saw an increase in that," VerWys says.
She says the complexity of violence creates myths in our community, so it's important to believe survivors.
"We hold the paradox of pain and possibility at the same time," VerWys says. "We acknowledge there's pain in our community, and at the same time, we want to be part of being solutions with our community partners. Doing events like this helps us do that."
She's talking about their second fundraiser since the start of the pandemic --an auction with the Women's Auxiliary of the Casino Club of Grand Rapids.
"We'll be working with Safe Haven Ministries and we're looking forward to it," President Pam Boomer says. "We have dozens of people who've donated products, and corporations, and it just shows that we really care about the community and especially women."
"There's not many people I've talked to that haven't been touched by domestic violence through their families, their friends or some acquaintance," Barb Warwick, a member of the Women's Auxiliary, says. "So we feel it's important that we support this."
The event is open to the public at 5 P.M. on May 7th at the Casino Club of Grand Rapids, located at 3260 Salerno Drive NE. There'll be plenty of things for women and children up for auction.
"It's important for the women to support other women in the community," Warwick says.
All the proceeds will support the services offered by Safe Haven Ministries.
"To have an event like this to celebrate the work and support it is huge for us," VerWys says.
For those in need of services at Safe Haven Ministries, their 24/7 hotline for phone calls and text messages is 616-452-6664. There is also a chat feature available online at shmgr.org.
Safe Haven Ministries
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.