Helping the Helpless
Crisis Center provides services to 158 clients in nine-month period
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

As Domestic Violence Awareness Month wraps up, Wharton County victims of the crime can rest assured local help is ready and waiting to assist them.

Rachel Stone is director of the The Crisis Center, which serves both Wharton and Matagorda counties. The problem of domestic violence is very much an issue here, she said.

"At both of our offices, we get clients on an almost-everyday basis," she said. "Just last month, my report shows we provided services to 59 nonresidential clients in Matagorda and Wharton counties."

Of those, 42 were adult females, three were adult males and 14 victims were children.

"That's people not staying at our (shelter) facility," she said.

The center's shelter housed eight adults and 13 children in September alone, Stone said.

The Crisis Center provides a wide variety of services to victims of domestic violence, including advice and referrals, safe shelter and a 24-hour crisis hotline (See related story).

Domestic violence has many forms, including physical violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation, economic deprivation or threats of violence.

Statistics show from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, the shelter provided services to 158 clients in Wharton County alone. They include 64 people from El Campo, 77 from Wharton and the remainder from Hungerford, Iago, Lane City, Danevang, East Bernard, Egypt, Louise, Boling and other communities in the county. Domestic violence is a crime that cuts across all ethnic and socio-economic barriers, Stone said. Statistics show clients of the center are about 44 percent Anglo-American, 41-42 percent Hispanic and 10-12 percent African American. According to the 2000 Census, Wharton and El Campo populations range from 46-55 percent Anglo, 29-35 percent Hispanic and 9-24 percent African-American.

"I don't have a socio-economic breakdown, but I can tell you it's been from one end to the other side," Stone said. "We've had clients making $80,000 a year, then some with no income at all. It seems like polar opposites, there's really no middle."

The center likely doesn't see as many upper-income clients because they have more resources available, she said.

"It might be because they can go rent an apartment, get a hotel room, hire a lawyer - they don't have to come to us." she said. Stone said it's crucial people take the problem of domestic violence seriously.

"In 2006, there were 120 women murdered in the state of Texas by a domestic partner," she said.

Helping those victims is crucial, no matter how bad they may think their situation is.

"We do have clients who are hopeless and helpless, who feel like there is nothing they can do," Stone said. "They might go back to their batterer, but every time they come through our doors, we give them information to make them stronger."

Some victims think their batterer will find them no matter where they go.

"We can help them go to other shelters, so they cannot be found," Stone said. "There is also the possibility of actually changing their identity - getting a new Social Security number and so forth - so they can't be tracked by that. We can direct them to other services and agencies to get things done. It's not easy, but it is possible. But you have to ask for help."

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the first Domestic Violence Awareness Month was observed in October 1987. The intent was to connect battered women's advocates across the nation who were working to end violence against women and their children.

Intimate partner violence is primarily a crime against women. According to the Bureau of Justice 90-95 percent of domestic violence victims are women. Domestic violence is not only directed by men toward women. In less than 5 percent of cases, women do assault male partners. As many as 95 percent of domestic violence perpetrators are male. While men can be and are sometimes victims of domestic assault, most victims who experience patterned abuse rooted in power and control, are women.

Local Crisis Services

The Wharton/Matagorda County Women's Crisis Center is available for victims of domestic violence through its Wharton County Outreach. The services they offer victims include:

• A 24-hour crisis hotline for people in crisis situations needing help or information on family violence, sexual assault, suicide and substance abuse. Victims can call toll-free 1-800-451- 9235 at any time for help.

• A safe house where victims (with or without dependent children) can live in safety and confi- dentiality, and where they can find emotional support while making plans for the future.

• Trained advocates and therapists who serve as nonjudgmental friends and help victims identify their options. Someone who will listen.

• Protective orders obtained through the county attorney's office and law enforcement.

• Referrals to professional, medical, legal, vocational, counseling and social services.

• Personal accompaniment to the hospital, law enforcement or to court for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.