SAUKVILLE, Wis. — A shelter in a small Ozaukee community is helping hundreds of domestic violence survivors each year.
Advocates of Ozaukee has spent more than four decades helping survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in the local community. In addition to the 18-bed shelter, the shelter provides a variety of services, including group counseling sessions and individual therapy.
The result of these efforts is a shelter that has become much more like a retreat, or a sanctuary. It serves 700 people each year, and for the last 21 years, Barb Fischer has led the organization.
"Domestic violence doesn't have any boundaries," Fischer said. "It doesn't care how much money you make. It happens anywhere, anytime, to anybody."
Christy Stuckert stayed at the shelter for a week in 2019, after her ex-husband broke into her Port Washington apartment and threatened to kill her.
"He grabbed me by the hood of my sweatshirt and pulled me back upstairs and pinned me down on the stairs," Christy said. "[He] told me that this was going to end one way or another; that I was going to drop the divorce. I was going to drop the restraining order, or he was going to end my life."
Watch: Saukville shelter serves hundreds of domestic violence survivors
Six years later, Christy still checks in with Advocates often. They helped her gain the confidence to date again. She and her new partner Brian are planning a wedding ceremony later this year.
"If I can save one person's life, by sharing my story, that's a win for me," Stuckert said.
Dozens of lives are lost to domestic violence yearly in Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
To get in touch with Advocates, click here to visit their website. You can also call their 24-hour crisis hotlines at 262-284-6902 and 877-375-4034.
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