Ruth's Cottage and The Patticake House offer shelter, help to victims of domestic violence

Dec. 28--Editor's Note: The Tift area is home to many charities and non-profits making a positive impact on our community. With the holiday season here, we want to highlight a handful of them and encourage our readers to consider them in their end-of-year giving. This is the fourth part of our Season of Giving series.

TIFTON -- Victims of domestic violence and abuse in the Tift area always have at least one place to turn for help -- Ruth's Cottage and The Patticake House.

Ruth's Cottage is a domestic violence prevention program which also provides a 24/7 crisis line to help with providing shelter arrangements, safety planning and navigating the legal system.

Ruth's Cottage also includes a 12-bed emergency shelter for women and children. While at the shelter, all the basic needs are met and emotional and educational needs are addressed through referral to area agencies and support groups.

Men also utilize services at Ruth's Cottage.

The Patticake House is a child advocacy center that currently provides forensic interviews for children who are suspected of being physically or sexually abused.

Executive Director Nancy Bryant said that the services they provide are needed more and more.

The organization has had to expand the range of services they offer because of the numbers and types of victims they are working with.

"We're definitely in a period of growth," Bryant said. "The increase in calls that we are getting to me is a sign that we're doing a pretty good job of meeting the needs of victims and providing services. But the volume of our services has been in an upward climb for a year or more."

She said that there are needs for services they don't provide, and they are trying to raise funds to provide new services and expand the services they do offer.

"Our sexual assault advocacy program is preparing to launch in January," Bryant said. "That's a whole new service." She said that they are hiring one full time advocate and five part time advocates who will be with a victim within 30 minutes of getting a call for help.

Bryant also said that they are beginning to offer mental health services as well, but they are not able to provide them in house. Having to travel to get those services can be difficult for those who are in hiding at the shelter or have been traumatized by an assault.

The RCPCH website is adding an option to donate online.

She said that individuals can chose which specific program they want to donate to.

"If they want to donate to Suitcases for Kids or the capital campaign, and we have another account so they can donate to the pediatric SAME program or just for Patticake House."

They are in the process of raising money to build a pediatric sexual assault medical exam room.

This room will allow RCPCH to provide forensic exams, which are necessary to gather evidence from a child's body and clothing after a sexual assault.

Currently area children that are suspected of having been sexually assaulted have to go to Waycross, Albany, Cordele or Valdosta. Bryant said that having to travel such a long distance is another trauma added to what is already a traumatic experience. Being able to provide both interviews and physical exams in Tift County will allow children to get help more quickly and be less traumatized.

"A child that's been obviously traumatized is physically in pain and cannot bathe or change their underwear or diaper because of the evidence," she said. The exam room will be housed at the Patticake House, which will speed up the process and let the child be treated sooner.

"We're getting closer," Bryant said. "It has walls and doors." However, there is still a long way to go to get the room ready for patients.

RCPCH is beginning a capital campaign to build a larger, safer facility to house adult victim services and the administration offices.

"We're having to turn away people who need shelter because we don't have the room," she said. "We are turning away families." She estimated that anywhere from five to 20 people are turned away per week because of a lack of room.

Currently the shelter consists of three rooms with four beds each.

Bryant recently showed the Tifton City Council plans for a new facility that will house more clients and offer heightened security, which would cost approximately $1.62 million.

Donations may be made through the organizations's website. For more information visit the www.stopthehurt.org.

Follow Eve Guevara on Twitter @EveGuevaraTTG.

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