Doris, 65, of Carbondale, walks slowly along the path beside Campus Lake.

Her eyes stare intently at the calm water reflecting the yellows and browns of leaves clinging to gray tree branches. Her hands play absently with a twig as she leans on the bridge railing and talks about what the help she received from Carbondale Women’s Center means to her.

I remember feeling so lost and alone with no place to go and no one to care about me or my kids, Doris says. I didn’t have any family and no friends that I could turn to, at least not any that I wanted to bring that kind of problem to.

Advertisement

Doris did not know that the Women’s Center existed until one night in 1982 when the police officer arresting her husband for domestic abuse calmly placed a small white card in her hand advertising the Women’s Center.

The place Doris is talking about started 25 years ago when local women attending a Carbondale Women’s Political Caucus had a vision of a place where women could go for social functions, communication and help.

That vision turned into the facility currently known as the Women’s Center, 408 W. Freeman St., which meets the needs of thousands of women each year through its Rape Action Committee, information referral and programs for domestic violence, sexual assault and public education.

Clara McClure, one of the seven women to attend the 1971 caucus and envision the types of services a Women’s Center could provide, said the growth rate of the Center will continue as the demands of the community increase.

The shelter also needs to be available for women who need a time out, McClure said, not just for women escaping an abusive situation.

In celebration of the Women’s Center’s Silver Anniversary, a dinner, dance and silent auction will take place at 6 p.m. Friday at the Carbondale Civic Center, 200 S. Illinois Ave.

Fifty pieces of art work are expected to be auctioned. This event is expected to raise about $6,000 of the estimated $40,000 needed by the Center to receive federal and state grants, which help pay for the Center’s programs.

Advertisement*

In 1972 when it first opened, the Center received its funds from yard sales, craft shows, bake sales and donations from the women who helped start the program. The shelter provided services to about seven women at a time.

In 1997 those figures increased to 32 women housed on a daily basis and literally thousands served in the various programs.

We know we have to raise $40,000, Mary Kay Bachman, executive director of the Women’s Center, said. The organizations providing the grant want proof of community support, which may be provided by the public’s participation in the art auction.

Bachman said many of the pieces scheduled to be auctioned will have a holiday theme, which will make them extra special purchases.

We are hoping when they purchase the items, if they don’t keep them, that they will give them as gifts, Bachman said. It is a gift all year long because it helps the Women’s Center.

Doris can remember arriving on the doorstep of the center 15 years ago after walking several blocks, carrying three large garbage bags full of clothing for herself and her two daughters. The Center provided Doris with guidance on how to obtain legal advice that would ensure her freedom from an abusive husband.

They didn’t just help me with getting rid of him, they helped me to find myself, Doris says. I learned that I was worth loving and that I could think and do for myself. Independence that’s what I learned.

Doris says the guidance and emotional support received from the workers at the Women’s Center enabled her to have the courage to return to school for her general education diploma and her associate’s degree from a community college.

I was able to get the education I needed to get a good job. More important, I was able to set an example for my girls, Doris says. They don’t know what it was like growing up with the fancy clothes some kids have, but they don’t know what it was like growing up in fear and violence without love either.

That is what the Women’s Center did not only for me, but for many, many women.

FACTOID INFO:The Women’s Center anniversary dinner, dance and silent auction will begin at 6 p.m. Friday in the Carbondale Civic Center.

The women who founded the Women’s Center will have a chance to share their remarks about the founding of the Center.

Tickets for the event are $25, and a limited amount are available.

For more information call Mary Kay Bachman at 549-4807 ext. 231.