In Southern Mississippi, the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence is receiving 30 percent more phone calls than normal compared to this time last year.
The center’s communications manager, Rene Davis, said there may be fewer people in the shelter, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more people needing help.
"Our sense is currently in-shelter is a little bit down as far as people currently in the shelter," Davis said of the center which is located in Biloxi. "But because we’re able to continue providing services, even non-residentially right now, we’re still getting an awful lot of calls."
Caseworkers and other staff are able to work remotely and over the phone and computer with clients.
In Northwest Mississippi, the House of Grace shelter in Southaven is not seeing an increase, but the shelter’s founder and executive director Lorine Cady said that doesn’t necessarily mean fewer people are needing help.
"We feel here, that because the abusers are also at home that the survivors are not having as many opportunities to call or get out of the home where they can come to the shelter," Cady said.
She’s worried how the lack of in-person contact is affecting people.
"Normally, if they're face to face — you can watch their body language," Cady said. "You can listen to the tones of their voice, you can watch their eyes — which tells you a lot in the interview. But right now, of course, with so few people coming into the office, that has impacted us a lot."
Some people may be apprehensive to stay in a shelter during this pandemic in fear of getting sick, but shelters across the state are reducing the number of staff in the building and and disinfecting as much as possible.
"One of the things that we’ve recently started doing is taking people’s temperature when they come into the building — staff, clients, everybody, so we can catch it very early if anyone begins to run a fever," Rene Davis of the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence said. "We’re using gloves [and] we’re using social distancing within the shelter as much as possible."
Throughout the pandemic -- and after -- both Cady and Davis say advocates, shelters and resources across the state have been, and will continue to be, available for anybody who needs help.
Resources:
If you are in danger, call 911.
The number for the State of Mississippi Hotline is 1-800-898-3234.
The national hotline is 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE).
Contact the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence at 1-800-800-1396 or on their website.
Contact the House of Grace at 662-342-1432.
A list of shelters in Mississippi can be found here, on the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence's website, which also includes more contact information, resources on legal advice, volunteering and donations.
For more information, visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
