He’s the 10 year old boy who doesn’t want the fresh-baked cookie, but the cookie sheet because it will protect him from his father’s punches if his dad finds them at the shelter.
She’s the wife and mother who showed up without shoes because she left her house in such a hurry that she only has her 3 children. She’ll need help getting their birth certificates, but not until she makes sure she wasn’t followed.
He’s the husband who’s ashamed to ask for help because he’s always been told that men are strong, and even though she controls the money, his schedule, his friends, and his family interactions, he hesitates to call it abuse.
They’re the teenager who’s afraid to ask their parents for help because they shouldn’t be having sex and they blame themself for the assault they survived last night. They aren’t sure they can survive another night.
For forty years, these stories, and many more with similar struggles, have resonated with staff, volunteers, and supporters of Domestic And Sexual Abuse Services, or DASAS (day-siss).
In 1984, a group of four women sat around a St. Joe County dinner table and decided that enough was enough. They wanted to shed a light on the abuse they knew was happening in the shadows, and help survivors in their community find help.
In those four decades since, through a few name changes, DASAS has worked to develop comprehensive residential and community outreach programs that serve as a path to hope and healing for survivors of abuse.
Whether it’s intimate partner violence, domestic abuse, elder abuse, financial or emotional abuse, or sexual assault, DASAS offers free, confidential, and trauma-informed services.
In a diverse community over three Southwest Michigan counties, DASAS values the life of each person regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, ability, sexual orientation, marital status, class, politics, religion, or educational level.
The people who make up DASAS believe that all abuse is unacceptable, those who have been abused are not at fault, and all individuals have the right to live abuse-free lives. Furthermore, the agency’s guiding principle of empowering survivors of abuse to regain control of their lives is the framework upon which all programs and strategies are developed.
In 2024, as DASAS marks 40 years serving the various communities across St. Joe, Cass, and Van Buren Counties, the agency celebrates the success of serving survivors along with the sad truth that abuse continues in our society today.
While proud of their years of service, as it’s clearly needed as much today as when the DASAS founders began, the goal is to “work ourselves out of a job” by ending abuse in our communities. Until that time, Domestic And Sexual Abuse Services will continue to offer resources to survivors of abuse.
The agency plans to highlight the 40-year milestone at a few events, including an awareness event at The Airfield Drag event, on August 9–10, 2024, and a 40th Celebration Gala in September. The celebration will culminate in October during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, with the Annual Candlelight Vigil.
