Golf Classic

To raise money for Shelter Our Sisters special events and services, the agency will be holding its Seventh Annual Golf Classic on Monday, Sept. 22 at Valley Brook Golf Course in River Vale. For more information contact Michelle Andryshak at 201-498-9247 ext. 301 or e-mail michellea@shelteroursisters.org.

Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women, with reports totaling more than those of car accidents, rapes, and muggings combined. In 2005, Bergen County documented 4,729 of the 75,651 recorded domestic violence offenses in New Jersey. But for the nearly 5,000 reported women suffering from domestic abuse, there is only one shelter committed to providing a safe haven for victims trying to move forward from their abusive pasts.

Shelter Our Sisters, SOS, is one of the nation’s first domestic abuse shelters and has served the community of Bergen County for 32 years. In the late 1970s, the agency became the first shelter in New Jersey to offer transitional housing to the clients it serves. Its mission is to assist women and children who are victims of domestic violence, including emotional, economic, sexual, and physical abuse. The organization is more than just a shelter, offering transitional housing as well as family and economic support in addition to emergency services to assist victims in immediate danger.

“The support of the staff and the volunteers is what clients tell us is important,” said Michelle Andryshak, director of development. “For so long they’ve experienced someone telling them that they are no good, they can’t do anything right. Here volunteers and other women are reinforcing them. When they leave our services, they feel confident that we will always be there for them,” she continued.

In 2007, SOS provided 117 women and 108 children in need of emergency assistance, and moved 24 families, including 36 children, into transitional housing and other services provided by the agency.

“It isn’t just a shelter. It is very warm and inviting and provides numerous services that help women get on their feet so that they don’t have to think twice about going back,” said Andryshak. “Once you come through our doors, you never leave,” she continued.

Shelter Our Sisters offers several services to the women and children who have left violent situations with the hope of moving on to a better life. The Emergency Shelter Program, ESP, provides a place for women and children who have left their homes and require housing and basic needs met in a safe, confidential setting. ESP has space for 35 women and children for a stay of two to three months and includes a 24-hour hotline, court and legal assistance, advocacy, housing options, individual and group counseling, community resource referrals, and Hispanic outreach.

Once emergency needs have been met, clients are offered several programs to assist the women in finding jobs, affordable housing, and continuing counseling to help victims overcome the abuse suffered. “The thing that I think is key with the organization… is that our program and outreach focuses on a holistic approach, which is what I think makes it so successful,” said Andryshak.

For the children who are victims of violence, SOS offers a program called Project C.H.I.L.D. which stands for Confidence, Hope, Independence, Love, and Direction, and provides community services to assist children in building confidence, learning to communicate and deal with conflict, as well as monitoring basic needs through case management. The program serves over 200 children each year and provides after school programs, preschool activities, tutoring and social-recreational activities, as well as the arrangements for school transfers and referrals.

In addition to providing services for the county’s victims of domestic violence, SOS also seeks to educate and raise awareness within the community about the dangers of abuse. “Domestic violence is a tough topic because people still need to be able to make that break for themselves,” said Elaine Meyerson, executive director. “Our job on our hotline and with the women who come in is to let them know what their options are.”

The statistics of women who are victim to domestic violence only reflect those who have reported their struggle, and do not reflect the women who continue to suffer in silence. But the Shelter Our Sisters agency is focused on raising awareness and getting the word out that there is a place for victims of domestic abuse to go, where they will be safe and assisted with getting their lives back. “Each person defines their own success,” said Meyerson. “It’s really been my honor to really be able to provide an opportunity for women to live safe and free and to provide options, and I am committed to that end.”

To raise money for SOS special events and services, the agency will be holding its 7th Annual Golf Classic on Monday, Sept. 22 at Valley Brook Golf Course in River Vale. For more information contact Michelle Andryshak at 201-498-9247 ext. 301 or e-mail michellea@shelteroursisters.org.

If you or someone you know is being abused, call the SOS 24-hour hotline at 201-944-9600.

Erin Patricia Griffiths' e-mail address is GriffithsE@northjersey.com.

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