Merger won’t mean sacrificing services, director says; organization will continue most of the same programs
Friends Against Abuse will now serve Koochiching and Lake of the Woods counties in both its domestic abuse and sexual assault programs.
Friends Against Abuse and the Sunrise Center Against Sexual Assault merged Thursday. The Baudette office of the Crisis Resource Center will also be under the same umbrella of services now being named Friends Against Abuse.
The consolidation will not result in a reduction in services, said LeeAnn Meer, executive director, Friends Against Abuse. Instead, unnecessary duplication of some services will be reduced, resulting in a greater efficiency and ability to focus on new programs. For example, instead of having three separate 24-hour crisis lines there will be one number to staff.
Meer said that this will also clear up confusion in the community due to often blurred lines of which organization to contact for a certain service. The site will now be a one-stop location for all the types of services the agency offers.
Friends Against Abuse will remain in the current location, 407 Fourth St., across from the post office. That branch will cover the Falls-location services and the Sunrise Center services. The Baudette office will remain open with its current staff person.
“I hope we can affect change easier,” Meer said, adding that she hopes the staff can get in front of rising need and stop abusive situations before they escalate.
“We’re at the base of the mountain, but we’ve got our hiking boots on and we’re starting up,” Meer said.
Koochiching County spends more than $900,000 a year on domestic violence, Meer said, including medical care, law enforcement and court costs.
Some of the Friends Against Abuse services includes community outreach and educational programs in schools.
Meer said she is concerned about noted increases locally in the number of domestic violence and abuse cases. “We don’t seem to be catching up on this,” she said.
In order to combat this increase, she said, they hope to get assistance from bystanders, including men, who are typically excluded from domestic violence programs.
“A lot of people don’t ask, say ‘It’s not my place,’” Meer said, encouraging people to reach out to those they suspect are in unhealthy situations.
Some of the services and programs that Friends Against Abuse, as one organization, will offer include: orders of protection, court advocacy, supervised visitation and telephone calls, offering safe housing, providing client support, mens and womens nonviolent education, teen boys behavior management, teen girls “Circle” group, “Lamplighters” group for sexual abuse, “Darkness to Light” for recognizing signs of child abuse and a “Parents Forever” course for divorcing parents.
Meer said that participants in the programs are both voluntary and court-ordered. Both nonviolent education programs and the “Parents Forever” course are $75. Fees are assessed for out-of-county supervised visitation. The rest of the programs are free.
In addition, Friends Against Abuse sponsors special programs such as “Rachel’s Challenge,” which discusses the topic of bullying in schools. Last year, the non-profit organization also held the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event to spotlight abuse of women. It featured men walking in womens shoes.
“We’re not isolated in doing this,” Meer said, noting that the local center works with other similar organizations statewide.
In order to raise funds, Friends Against Abuse collects used cell phones. They also sell dish cloths and cookbooks at various locations around town, among other projects.
There are five full-time and three part-time employees in the Falls office. There is one employee at the Baudette office.
The phone number for Friends Against Abuse, which is a 24-hour crisis line before and after hours, is 285-7220. The number for the Baudette office is 218-634-3233. They are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. The Baudette number will roll over to the Falls crisis line after and before hours.
