The women's Refuge article in the Luminaries newspaper on September 21st by Tania Ortega-Cowen Luminaries@scripps.com
Driving along Lemon Avenue in Vero Beach, you might be suprised to come across that is both a refuge and a hidden treasure.
The Women's Refuge Center of Vero Beach is surrounded by crepe myrtles, oaks, palm trees and manicured green grass. The beautifully-kept property is adorned with flower baskets, gernaiums and ferns, giving the feeling of home-sweet-home.
Public relations director Karen Schaefer says, "The Refuge is for any woman who is stuck in life and wants to move on in victory. While we are not a homeless shelter, we do have a residential program, plus the community is invited to come in for counseling."
Group meetings include topics on overcoming obstacles, psycho-education, co-dependency, anger management, sexual abuse and Bible study. The Refuge provides security and direction at life's critical turning-point moments.
Cheryl Wood volunteers as a counselor at the Refuge four days a week and says, "My own family was greatly helped by the Refuge. My daughter had come for counseling...it changed her life."
Volunteers and residents help with so much - even the monthly mailings. Walter Louks, who volunteers each day, assists with grant writing, maintenance work, newsletters and transporting furniture for the new resale shop. "People call with furniture, and I have a pickup truck, so I just go get it". By being involved day to day, Walter says, "I see the change in people for the better".
Donna Lee Robart, the founder and executive director of The Women's Refuge Center, says, "In 1972 I had the vison for The Refuge. My first husband and I had a home for teens in Clover, S.C. for five years. During that time, I really believe that God showed me a vision where women with emotional and spiritual problems could have a place where they could find refuge."
"So I went ahead and raised my four children and went into psychiatric nursing. All during that time, from 1972 until 1991, I brought women in and they stayed with us and we worked with them. I worked at hospitals and churches and went overseas on missions to India, Africa, Eastern Europe and Mexico trying to help women. All the while I knew I needed to open up a place. Then, my first husband died of a heart attack and so four years later on my way to open a women's refuge in Romania, I came down to Vero Beach to see a friend."
Donna liked it in Vero, so she decided to stay, opening the Refuge in 1997.
