A small but mighty crew: Kodiak Women’s Resource and Crisis Center is creating a safer community
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KODIAK, Alaska — When Susan lost her mother in 2023, she not only was grieving her sudden passing, but also the security they shared, living together, three generations under one roof. The harsh reality came quickly. Susan was suddenly responsible for all living expenses and had to figure out how to work with no childcare available for her young daughter. After paying for her mother’s funeral, it wasn’t long before Susan found herself homeless.
“We literally had nowhere to go. Me and my kid slept in our truck,” said Susan, who is using a different name to protect her privacy. “All the bills piled up, and we lost everything.”
That’s where the Kodiak Women’s Resource and Crisis Center stepped in. Susan, a victim of domestic violence years prior, has been recovering from its effects ever since – and it’s partly why she was living with her mother. When she approached the crisis center, they welcomed her.
Rebecca Shields, KWRCC’s executive director, said trauma affects every victim differently. While some may rebound, others may languish. While some may fight back, others may hide. Victims return to their abusers. They leave again. They blame themselves. They turn to drugs and/or alcohol to cope. But when they do seek help, Kodiak Women’s Resource and Crisis Center (KWRCC) wants to always be there to answer their call.
It is Kodiak’s only shelter available to individuals of any gender who are victims of domestic and/or sexual violence, housing up to 25 individuals, including those with children. Over the years, the crisis center has increased its services to include a free “thrift store” with clothing and basic household supplies, legal advocacy, support groups, community education and outreach, and referrals to resources such as healthcare, housing, counseling and more.
They operate a 24-hour crisis line for individuals who need confidential anonymous support and recently added a forensic exam room for victims of assault. In 2024, Providence Alaska provided $28,000 in funding to help the crisis center do its work.
“We have very few cookie cutter cases,” Shields said. “We are just the people who refuse to give up.”
Those people are a small but mighty team of women with an infectious positivity and yearning to help. Shields said her staff’s goal is to help their community be a safer place to live.
Penny Lampl is one of KWRCC’s case workers, the shelter coordinator and organizes the SART (Sexual Assault Response Team) and CCR (Community Coordinated Response team). She is the one who often gets the initial phone call for help and has worked with Susan since she arrived in the fall.
“Domestic violence happens everywhere to anyone, no matter your economic status, race, gender,” Lampl said. “We let everyone know that their path is going to be their own path.”
Susan said that once KWRCC provided her with a place to live, she then got her daughter enrolled back into school. She was able to get assistance in disposing of her beater of a car that would have cost her money to have hauled away. She received counseling and support to help her begin to put money away again and save for a brighter future. The folks at the shelter helped put on a birthday party for her daughter – the first time she had received birthday gifts in a long time.
“When I first got here, I thought, ‘they are doing so much for me, there are other people that need this more,’ Than other clients in the Shelter received their housing voucher. Mine had not yet come through. I thought it was because I did not deserve it. But Miss Penny says “no, you are just as deserving anyone” Susan added.
“It’s just not yet your turn,” Lampl interrupted. “You will get there.”
The shelter is a homey place, with bedrooms for individuals with children downstairs, and rooms for childless people upstairs. There are two community cooking areas, a communal living area, and a playroom for the kids, with a cheerful wall mural painted by staff member Alina Button. Outside, there is a garden and a small lawn.
Last year, KWRCC served 55 in-house clients and 446 total individuals, including non-residential clients. It served 735 additional contacts with education, outreach, crisis-line assistance and more. Lampl said it is work that never really ends – the call can come in at noon, or midnight, and one of the KWRCC staff will be there to help.
One case, for instance, involved a woman and her son who sought help.
“The boy’s father and uncle both had violent rap sheets a mile long,” Lampl said. “They were not safe. But they got help, and now her son is joining the Air Force, and they are doing so much better. Those stories are what keeps us going.”
For Ellamy Tiller, community outreach coordinator, the successes are smaller, more upstream and intended to keep abuse from happening in the first place.
“Once I started working here, people I’d known for years started talking about their experiences with domestic violence, or people they know,” Tiller said. “I think it’s everywhere, and it’s something we’re getting better at talking about, but it’s also private. Knowing you’re not alone goes a long way to breaking that silence.”
Shields said KWRCC welcomes anyone experiencing domestic violence or abuse to reach out to them. She wants them to know they are not alone. We are all in it together.
“It’s not us and them,” she said. “It’s us and us.”