Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad

By Felicia McCaw
Saginaw Valley State University
Introduction to Social Welfare and Social Work Social Work 215

Underground Railroad
Felicia McCaw
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I am interested in this non-profit organization serving all the residents of the County of Saginaw because it helps all victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking and I wanted to find out more information about it due to curiosity. It has been in operation since 1977 and is the only provider of emergency shelter, services, leadership and programs to end domestic and sexual violence in the community.
Further, domestic violence does not discriminate it can happen to anybody in any race, religion and economic group. While participating and trying to obtain my volunteer hours with this organization I was assigned to work at the Thrift Store (Under the Rainbow) because I did not want to go into the inner confines of the Underground Railroad until I received more training.

I was treated fairly and worked there 3 hours sorting and organizing blankets, quilts and sheets but due to back pain and not having enough monies to continue traveling there and after my being excused from this obligation I ceased working at the Thrift Store. But I was able to find out a lot information about the services that they provide, e.g., The mission of the Underground Railroad and that is to provide services for survivors of domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault, their leadership role for eliminating violence against women within our community, their commitment to maintain adequate facilities, staffing, equipment and resources to support programs to continue to assist, their further commitment to diversify and expand funding sources to enable the corporation to adapt to the changing political and economic environments and goal to enhance and expand community understanding and support for their mission.

What strikes me as most significant is the knowledge that domestic violence and sexual assault are damaging to the victimized and society as a whole and that this violence is rooted in our social structure and produces significant inequities in roles, relationship, resources, and power between women, men, and children. Further, it has to be acknowledged that domestic violence and sexual assault is criminal conduct which will not be tolerated and that prevention through education, advocacy and appropriate intervention is the ultimate goal. Furthermore, all victims should be provided with sanctuary (safety) and must be treated with dignity and respect and help should be provided to empower the victims and

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Felicia McCaw
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seek social change which addresses the existing imbalance of power within violent relationships. Counseling should be recommended to assist in making informed choices for themselves and their children to provide safety, information about domestic violence, available options, and community resources and to this end the Underground Railroad will be there to provide leadership in this community on issues affecting survivors and be accountable to survivors.

The history of the Underground Railroad is unique because an attorney from Legal Services of Eastern Michigan, Barbara Klimaszewski, identified a need for emergency shelter for battered women and their children in 1976 because there were no specific statutes in the State of Michigan pertaining to spouse abuse, which left the victims of domestic violence without protection and little recourse for any legal intervention. The solution to this quandary became readily apparent that the only means for protection for these women and their children was to flee their residence and seek temporary shelter. Fortunately, for this county a group of women from the Saginaw area formed a group called the Feminists United for Social Equality and proceeded to establish the Underground Railroad, a private non-profit corporation “to provide and operate a shelter for battered women and their children.”

Elected to help this shelter (Underground Railroad) operate is the board of directors which consists of four officers and five assistants to help in the everyday operations. Their duties is to expand the knowledge of the Underground Railroad and ensure new policy is elected and enforced and for the year of 2010 a new program was enacted “Advocates for Change Society” which was launched in May to build a self-sustaining giving program of loyal, long-term supporters who are committed to the Underground Railroad Mission.

Some of the services they provide is hotline for crisis and support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year providing callers with intervention, support, understanding and information and referrals as necessary, emergency shelter is offered to females with children, adult male victims and transgender victims who are in imminent danger, advocacy-counseling and support groups, court support and legal assistance, housing assistance for survivors, youth advocacy and childcare, secondary survivor services, safe place supervised visitation and safe exchange, prevention education programs, community awareness presentations, and collaborative programs.

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Felicia McCaw
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Events of support programs and press releases are relayed on the website, how to make financial contributions, volunteer opportunities, planned giving – leaving a legacy, donor bill of rights, expanded information of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, trafficking, teen and youth, LBGTIQ relations.

Creating a Safety Plan, Contact information for the Underground Railroad and Links for Help!

I learned a tremendous amount from the website and from working at the Under the Rainbow Thrift Store and enjoyed my interactions with the customers and my working area and knowledge of where monies are generated to help those in need.


Bibliography

Underground Railroad, Inc.
http://www.undergroundrailroadinc.org/