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closeAnne Ard may not be a doctor, but she’s in the healing business. As executive director, the Ferguson Township resident leads the Centre County Women’s Resource Center, whose shelter, hotline and other programs help abused women and their children repair their lives.
CDT/Nabil K. Mark
Anne Ard has been Executive Director of the Centre County Women's Resource Center for the past 11 years. CDT/Nabil K. Mark
Q: How’s the center these days?
A: In some ways, it’s going very well. We have an amazing staff. The people who work here are incredibly dedicated and very good at what they do. And we have an excellent volunteer pool. ... Not surprisingly, what’s scary are the issues with the economy. ... I’ll give you a concrete example. Our second-largest funding source, we got an 181⁄2 percent cut this year, for the next two years. So part of what we’re trying to do is figure out: “OK, how are we going to manage that in a way that’s going to minimize the impact on our clients and the people we serve?” ... I told the staff here and my family (that) I may be spending my summer vacation writing grants.
Q: Have attitudes toward domestic violence changed?
A: Dramatic improvement. ... When I started this, it was not uncommon to get questions from an audience or a group (such as), “Well, why don’t women just leave?” I don’t get that question as much anymore. When we do, it’s really a good discussion starter. It’s much less a victim-blaming statement than it is, “Can we talk about the issues that create a situation where it’s difficult for women to leave abusive situations?”
Q: Is the economy having an impact?
A: I think we’ve seen it, absolutely. We’ve seen our hotline calls have increased. The number of folks looking for assistance has increased. One of the things that’s true about us is that, while domestic violence and sexual assault cut across the socio-economic strata, it’s not only folks who have less money who experience domestic violence. It happens all the time to people with large incomes and means. ...But what we’re seeing is an increase in demand for our services as the economy affects people who might have had (other) resources but don’t have those anymore. ... And I think that the reality is that the more challenging the economy is, the more impact it has on individual families, the stress level goes up.
Q: What changes to the center are you proud of?
A: In 2000, we were able to raise a significant amount of money and expand our shelter facility, and not just expand it: We made it bigger, but we made it better, in terms of it’s a more hospitable and more welcoming place for folks. ... At the same time, we were able to open an office in Bellefonte, a counseling office, half a block from the courthouse, that provides folks in other parts of the county access to our counseling and advocacy services. It strengthened our relationship with all the folks who work in the county seat and in the courthouse. And that has been critically important for our clients. And the third thing that I’m proud of is the program that we’ve been doing, the A Day in the Life program. It’s an outreach program ... to people in the workplace, who victims of violence have a huge connection with. That’s where they go to be safe, that’s who they talk to, that’s who they spend a great deal of time with. We’ve partnered with the state to do this program. It’s a three-hour program, so it’s a significant investment in time to do this.
Q: What’s something about you few know?
A: There are things that I would like to be able to find time to do, that now I don’t. One of the things would be: I would like to learn how to speak Spanish. The other thing I would like to do, when I was young, I played the cello for about five years. And I quit in high school, to my mother’s everlasting chagrin. And I would love to find the time to take cello lessons and learn how to play again.
Q: How do you see your job?
A: To be honest with you, I’m at that stage in the work that I do here at the center where I don’t have a lot of day-to-day contact with our clients. I don’t do the counseling all the time; I’m not doing the work in the shelter. But part of my role is to pay attention to the folks who are, and to make sure that they are getting the support they need.
Q: What inspires you daily?
A: It’s an odd thing to say: I love doing this work. I think when you see the women who — and not just women, but men as well, and kids especially — who are safer now than they were before, that’s an enormous reason to keep doing it.
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