SAFE under new leadership

LAURA DENON

STAFF WRITER

Editor’s note: This article contains content about domestic violence which may impact some readers.

Janice Baker has taken the helm of Transylvania County’s domestic violence shelter, steering from her own lived experiences.

On April 7 Baker started her new role as executive director of the nonprofit organization Shelter Available for Family Emergency Inc., commonly known as SAFE.

She was the first women’s studies major from Regis University, has worked at two other shelters in Colorado and previously moved to Hendersonville to work at Pisgah Legal Services.

“The shelter is being led at this point by somebody who understands where they’re coming from,” said Baker. “I understand exactly where they’ve been. I’ve walked those shoes.”

“I got married and didn’t even realize at first that I was in an abusive situation — my abuser was a narcissist,” she said. “For example, I had a monthly budget that I could utilize for groceries or whatever, but I had to turn in every single receipt and therefore never had access to storing up money for leaving. I drove around with a small duffel bag in the trunk of my car for a long time. My daughter was in preschool and I just

See SAFE ON A8

New leadership takes the helm at SAFE with Executive Director Janice Baker (center), Bronwyn Butler (left) and Melissa Smith.

Laura Denon | The Transylvania Times

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simply told my spouse that it was a bag of clothes for my daughter in case she had an accident or something like that and so it was never opened. That was in the trunk of my car for a year.”

One day Baker came home to find her husband had destroyed her artwork station and used an ice pick to make divots into her work bench.

“I had somebody say to me, ‘You realize that that could have been you,’” she said. “It was such a shock to me because it happened slowly and then continued to escalate.”

Baker had tried to leave before, but without a separate bank account or credit card, she was trapped. After a year, she and her daughter escaped to a local shelter.

They both received counseling.

She got a restraining order and a lawyer served her husband divorce paperwork.

She had previously experienced sexual violence as a child and was date-raped as an adult.

“Get help as soon as you see that you need something,” Baker said, when asked what advice she gives to those in her situation today. She quoted Maya Angelou, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

“I would encourage people to not be afraid to reach out for help,” she said. “That’s what we’re here for. We’re here to help you with that, so use the crisis line and call in and we can get that person on their way to what they need.” LOCAL CHALLENGES “This year we have a large goal of trying to write an ambitious amount of grants and move away from just having a lot of federal funding because of administration changes,” Baker said. “We will be reaching out to donors and to funders.”

When asked about this year’s annual operating budget, Baker said there were changes to the organization and to check the organization’s website in the future for its most recent IRS 990 form.

The website provides the organization’s 2022 form and its 2023 annual report.

Long-time director Salley Stepp retired following 24 years in leadership.

Stepp said last September the organization’s annual operating budget was about $1.5 million and included more than 30 staff members and dozens of volunteers.

In 2023, 47% of its income came from government grants, 20% from donations and 33% earned income. SAFE operates two thrift stores in Brevard.

“For Transylvania County, some of the challenge too is just awareness and education,” said Bronwyn Butler, who runs the organization’s thrift stores and communications.

“A lot of people don’t understand what domestic violence is or what it looks like,” said Butler. “Even survivors a lot of the time don’t know that they’re in an abusive relationship or that that’s what they’re experiencing.”

“For me personally with doing marketing and outreach that’s a big part of what I am passionate about doing in this community is just bringing more awareness to the issue and teaching people,” she said. “Most of the time, survivors don’t feel comfortable coming forward and so that’s a big thing that we want to just make sure that they know we’re available and we’re always here for them. Even if they just want to talk to somebody, they don’t have to come in for services. We have a hotline.” SERVICES OFFERED The organization has 16 full-time and 13 part-time staff and runs two thrift shops in Brevard.

“Last year we served 75 women, 18 children and 6 men,” said Melissa Smith, who manages the organization’s domestic violence intervention programs and works with abusers. “We served 28 women, 15 children and two men in the shelter.”

There is a women’s support group held Fridays for any survivors in the community and a 24/7 crisis intervention phone service anybody can call SAFE directly and they will reach a live person.

Programs for children are no longer offered in schools, but they are offered in other places including the local Boys & Girls Club, Rise and Shine and Schenck Job Corp.

Staff also offer court advocacy services, meet sexual assault victims at the hospital to support them during the exam process, perform domestic violence and sexual assault trainings, provide outreach speakers for community events and lectures, and provide services in Spanish.

UPCOMING PROGRAMMING “I’m looking forward to making changes, being more visible in the community, making sure that victims know we are here, that we provide a lot of services,” said Baker.

“We are looking to implement a crisis text line so that they don’t have to be on the phone calling in and having the abuser hear them,” she said. “We are working on being at every Brevard community event so that we are becoming more publicly visible to the community that we’re here.”

New fundraising initiatives, a more user-friendly webpage to donate and involving local community artists are also on the horizon.

In the United States, approximately three in 10 women have a violent encounter in their life said Baker, and on average, it takes a victim seven times to leave their abuser.

There are many reasons victims stay with abusers, she said, including emotional abuse, multi-generational cycles of abuse, limited access to friends, family, money or childcare.

“Fear is the most dangerous time for a victim. Fear being threatened by a weapon. Fear being threatened of losing their children, that the abusers oftentimes will call DSS to report the victim as being a perpetrator,” she said. “For me, this is something that is very close to my heart and something that I believe very strongly that every community needs.”

For more information, visit SAFE’s website at www. safetransylvania.org or call (828) 885-7233.