Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter receives grant

HANCOCK -- The Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home for Abused Women has been chosen to receive one of 150 grants awarded by a leading national anti-domestic violence organization, the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation (MKACF). The $20,000 grant will be used to maintain the crisis line and direct services to program participants.

Supporters of the Shelter and recipients of its services recently called attention to the work of the Shelter in helping survivors of domestic violence with a Candlelight Ceremony in Hancock on Oct. 6.

Supporters of the Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter hold a candlelight march in Hancock Oct. 6 after their ceremony honoring survivors of domestic violence. The event also included speakers, poetry and music. Carrying the Shelter Home banner are Anne Haywood, left, of Hancock, and Ann Brady, Shelter Home Board member. Left of Brady, with other marchers, is Emily Newhouse, Shelter Home executive director. Click on photo for larger version. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

Shelters are feeling the impact of a weak economy. According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, shelter donations are down; but the need for services is increasing. To help make sure needs are met, the foundation started by the late Mary Kay Ash is donating a total of $3 million in grants to shelters in all 50 states.

"This grant gives us much-needed cash and hope at Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter," said Emily Newhouse, executive director. "The problem of domestic violence isn’t going away and neither is the need for funding. Programs to help those experiencing domestic violence require a lot of resources. It is a tremendous challenge to provide services on a 24 hour basis. Grants specifically for everyday operating expenses are rare, and this funding demonstrates the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation understands this need for funding of day-to-day operations. We’re grateful that the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation is stepping up to the plate in helping us help families in Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties."

Hand-decorated tee-shirts are displayed on a clothesline in the Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock during the Oct. 6 Candlelight Ceremony honoring survivors of domestic violence. The shirts are part of the Clothesline Project -- a program started in 1990 on Cape Cod, Mass., as a vehicle for women affected by violence to express their emotions by decorating a shirt. They then hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of violence against women. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), domestic violence affects one in every four women in the United States. Nationally:
· The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, 4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health services;
· Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults;
· 84 percent of spousal abuse victims are female.

The statistics in Michigan are just as startling. According to the NCADV:
· 48,310 domestic violence offenses were reported to the Michigan Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program in 2003.
· About 4 of every 10 females seen in selected emergency departments for injuries related to assault were there because of intimate partner violence.
· It is estimated that there were 22,328 domestic violence cases handled in Michigan’s prosecuting attorney offices in 2000.

Rhythm 203 performs folk songs during the Oct. 6 Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home Candlelight Ceremony for survivors fo domestic violence. Musicians and singers are, from left, Sue Ellen Kingsley, Phyllis Fredendall and Norm Kendall. (Video © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

"The Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter has helped so many women and their families in Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon Counties. We know they will use these funds to benefit even more domestic violence survivors and their children," said Jennifer Cook, MKACF board member. "Mary Kay Ash wanted her foundation to help enrich women’s lives. All the tragic stories and statistics we hear about domestic violence encourage us to do our part. We know Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter will use these funds to stop domestic violence and provide help and hope to domestic violence survivors and their children in Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties in Michigan."

About the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation

The Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation was created in 1996, and its mission is two-fold: to fund research of cancers affecting women and help prevent domestic violence while raising awareness of the issue. Since the Foundation’s inception, it has awarded nearly $18 million to shelters and programs addressing domestic violence and $10.8 million to cancer researchers and
related causes throughout the United States. To learn more about the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation, log on to www.mkacf.org or call 1-877-MKCARES (652-2737).

Editor's Note: Programs at the Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home are supported by the Copper Country United Way. Donations may also be sent to Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home for Abused Women, P. O. Box 8, Calumet, MI 49913.