Building Community
"We envision a future where every individual can thrive without fear. Through compassion, advocacy, and community partnership, we are building that future one survivor at a time."
Stephanie Moore, Executive Director
Our Story
In 1978, a group of Greenbrier and Monroe County residents who were interested in organizing on behalf of women met and began what was to become the Family Refuge Center. They identified domestic violence as a problem which deeply affected the lives of women and children in the area. They documented the need for shelter services for battered women: a domestic violence project offering safe space, counseling, advocacy, and community education was begun when salary for one staff member and minimal operating expenses were funded in 1979.
In 1980, the Family Refuge Center was incorporated as a private, non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Additional funding was found for a shelter manager, and the first temporary shelter was opened in September of that year in Sweet Springs, WV. A larger, more conveniently located shelter was opened in Lewisburg in 1982, and shelter has moved to a new location in Lewisburg since that time.
Family Refuge Center has grown rapidly as a result of several factors. As FRC has become better known in the communities we serve, demand for services has increased. By working closely with other agencies and service providers, FRC provides and accesses a wide range of resources and opportunities for clients while avoiding duplication of services.
5,340
Lives Touched
Every Hand Helps Us Grow
250
Volunteers
Uniting Hearts and Actions
175
Projects Completed
Milestones of Hope and Change
Our Mission
Family Refuge Center is a community-based domestic violence project serving Pocahontas, Greenbrier, and Monroe Counties in southeast West Virginia. We are committed to ending physical, sexual, and emotional abuse to survivors, of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and/or human trafficking, and their children by providing emergency shelter and extension services in all counties.
Visitation Success Story
One visitation case that always stands out to me is one in which the mother was having supervised visitation due to her struggle with addiction. The visits had to be supervised due to her ongoing substance use. The visits went on for several months, and the mother talked about her wanting to get help for her addiction. Staff encouraged her to seek out treatment. The mother realized that she needed to be in a long-term program due to her years of substance use. She hated the thought of being away from her child, but she knew she had to get treatment. She chose to put her visits on hold so she could go out of state to complete a long-term rehab program. After a little over a year the mother came back to the area. She came back knowing that they say to be successful you usually have to get away from the area and the people that you did drugs with, but she wanted to be in her child's life, so she came back. She got a job and did really well in different positions that she went through with that job. Then she moved on to a better paying job. During this time, she restarted her visitation with her child and was eventually able to get unsupervised weekend visits with her child and then began co-parenting with her child's father and eventually shared custody of the child. It took time for the father to regain trust in her. She thanked me for always being nice to her and treating her like a human and not like she was only an addict.
Snapshots of Connection
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