 Chris Kostbade Executive Director, Stepping Stone Shelter "Our mission is to empower individuals and families to live without violence; we promote healthy relationships/community systems, and we provide wrap-around services to help survivors of DV/SA/HT and families rebuild their lives."
The Stepping Stone Shelter provides 24/HR emergency shelter and transitional housing for victims of homelessness due to domestic violence, sexual assault, and/or human trafficking. Stepping Stone is the ONLY 24 hr. domestic violence emergency shelter and transitional housing program serving La Porte County and we are the trusted voice of domestic violence within the community. We are a safe haven for community members fleeing abuse with nowhere to turn. Without Stepping Stone, men, women, and children would stay in abusive environments because they would have nowhere else to turn. We help our clients move forward with necessary resources such as healthcare, housing, legal assistance, educational connections, and more, depending upon their unique needs. We connect persons to resources and ensure that efforts are not duplicated, and community resources are used efficiently. We also operate a second site, the Bridge Transitional Housing. Those survivors who meet referral standards for our transitional housing program can live rent-free for up to 18 months and are not responsible for any utility bills including cable and internet. We provide safe shelter and case management through our own services and collaboration with more than 25 agencies locally, as survivors work toward self-sufficiency. Many of our clients only know how to survive -- we help them learn how to thrive and gain control of their lives and connections to their community. Abusers isolate victims to exert power and control; a connected person is more resilient and able to succeed. High poverty & unemployment rates are key indicators of violence, and Michigan City continues to be above State averages. We provide outreach and education to all ages, with a focus on youth, to work to break the generational cycles of domestic violence that we see so frequently in our programs. This outreach is critical to our mission to empower our community to live violence free.
Thank you for allowing us to come and tell you about our vital programs in this community.
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