Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Union Hill A.M.E. Church has an ongoing outreach ministry for the Refuge House of Jefferson County, which provides services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and their children.
To support Refuge House, the outreach ministry recently filled a truck with items to donate, including clothes, bed linens, hair products, dental care items, toiletries, hygiene items, cleaning supplies, sanitizer, snack of all kinds gift boxes, bathtub grab bars, sanitary wipes, Stacy Adams shoes, socks of all sizes and more.
Rev. Barbara Thomas, pastor of Union Hill A.M.E. Church, expresses her support of this ministry of the church and is proud of the ministry's members.
Overall, Refuge House serves all eight Big Bend area counties in North Florida, including Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor and Wakulla.
Refuge House first opened as an emergency shelter in Leon County in 1978. During 1995-98, they expanded their service area to include Jefferson County and other nearby rural counties. Over the past 25 years, they have developed a Hospital-based Sexual assault Nurse Examiner Program, constructed additional shelter locations, established a Transitional Housing Program, opened a Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Center and increased the Spanish-speaking capacity across all of the agency's services.
The Refuge House staff meet a critical need in our community by fulfilling their mission “to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and to their children and families, as well as to eliminate such violence through community education and public advocacy.”
The crisis hotline for Jefferson County is (850) 681-2111. Refuge House staff take calls at this number any time of the day or night. For more information, visit the Refuge House website at refugehouse.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.