There is a ray of hope for those who have been involved in a domestic battery case, and it shines from DeKalb County’s Safe Passage.

Safe Passage is an agency that aims to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault in DeKalb County.

Cynthia Folgate, the community resources director at Safe Passage, works with the rest of the Safe Passage community to help battery victims return to better lives.

Northern Star: What services do you offer the victims?

Cynthia Folgate: If they end up in the hospital, we have a medical advocacy program. We have a networking agreement with the two hospitals. We will immediately dispatch out there to talk to them. We have legal advocates that help walk them through the criminal justice process. We help them with civil no-contact orders and orders of protection. In our shelter, we have a 25-bed capacity. I think that’s important for people who have no place to go. We have a better intervention program, for the offender. Without the intervention, they will not stop battering. We have adult, teen and children counseling. We’re not only a domestic violence agency, but sexual abuse and sexual violence agency.

NS: About how many of the people who come to your shelter have suffered from battery?

CF: In 2006 fiscal year, we had on average 338 per month. It’s kind of amazing for a small county like DeKalb. I don’t look at it as depressing, I look at it as help available. We don’t focus on the negative and defeat. We all live in hope that we’ll all one day be out of a job. Without us, our clients, the victims, would be in bad shape. We’re here and we do what we can. We have a staff of 30 that work tirelessly to help. I do have to say the community is included with support. A bank is donating 200 Easter baskets for our kids. At Christmas, the community comes forth with so much stuff, not just physical; they come and sing Christmas carols for the clients. We do definitely depend on the kindness of strangers. Never once has the community let us down, and that’s a huge ray of sunlight.

NS: How do you help the victims get back into life?

CF: We don’t get them, they do it themselves. We never tell our clients what to do. Otherwise, they’re exchanging a controlling person for a controlling agency. We offer them options. It’s very hard for some of them to make the decisions. If they want help, we offer it. I was just helping someone do a job search. She came in and I had a few minutes. It’s stuff like that, that’s how they get back into normal life. That’s how they do it. I helped her find them, but she has to do the interviews. We have a 24-hour hotline. A lot of our clients are still living with their abusers; they call us collect so the number doesn’t come up on the phone bill.

NS: What actions are taken if a victim returns?

CF: Statistically, on average a client will leave their abuser five to seven times. We tell them we’ll always be there for them. We’re a phone call away. We also do safety planning where we talk about what to do if they go back to their abuser. If things don’t work out, for example, they talk to the neighbors to develop signals like leave the porch light on or have the curtains parted a certain way so they’ll call the police. We also tell the kids how to call 911. There’s a whole list.

NS: How do citizens volunteer at Safe Passage?

CF: We have a very active volunteer force. We offer a lot of internships. We very actively recruited at the NIU internship fair last week. We’re always looking for good volunteers and good interns. If they’re in contact with clients, they must go through a 60-hour training session. If anyone is interested, the volunteer packet is on the Web site or they can contact me and I’ll be glad to talk with them about it.