celebrating cove

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By MARIE WAITECOVE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

COVE has been rebuilding lives and empowering families for 36 years in Mason, Lake and

Oceana counties. Five years ago, a dream team

comprised of COVE staff, board members and volunteers as-sembled to decide the fate of the shelter. The continued inadequa-cies and the maintenance issues of the current facility made the feasibility of a complete remodel of the current shelter a financial impossibility. This led to the idea to build a completely new shelter that would house both the clients and the COVE administrative and advocacy staff on the same prem-ises. Transportation to and from counseling appointments and group activities always being an

issue, a space that would house everyone in one location and bring the programming to the clients was key.

A facility in Washington state was the first of its kind in the nation, not a group model home but an individual liv-ing unit style facility. This design was instantly appealing. As we op-erate on an empowerment model here at COVE, what better way to empower the victims of these ter-rible acts than to give them, for the first time, a shelter from their violent situations but also the op-portunity to still maintain some independence or, quite possibly for the first time, have indepen-dence.

Our new facility will have six small apartments where they can take care of their families by cooking family meals together and also having a place to go and quietly and privately begin the process of healing.

We knew this was the model that we needed. We knew that we were about to do something un-like anybody else in the nation and were prepared to do whatever we had to make this a reality for the clients that we serviced. They deserved this...

So, after two years, the decision was made to build a new shelter based on this model. We em-barked on a three-year-long cam-paign to raise the funds to break ground. Finally in the spring of 2014 we did just that. We broke ground and throughout 2014 our amazing contractors led by Heir-

loom Construction, Josh Wickham and an amazing design by Kendra Thompson of Kendra Thompson Architects, PC we have seen an amazing transformation.

The dream is now a reality and our new facility with its offices for COVE staff, a community room for COVE programming and com-munity partnership programing, the donation station, the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) unit and its six individual liv-ing units will be celebrated in a grand opening on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

Our national media has been buzzing with heart-breaking stories of domestic violence and sexual assault. Now more than ever, other public and private or-ganizations are seeing the need in our nation to raise awareness and provide funding for organi-

zations just like ours. It is un-fortunate that these instances have to occur for a nation to take notice. This is great news for our cause and for us, the work starts right here in our own backyard.

There are no limits to what we will be able to accomplish. We have a staff with hearts fully in-vested in our mission. We have a board that is continually dedicat-ed to our cause and because of that we will ensure our future as a beacon of hope for the victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

We have built a facility unlike any other in Michigan and argu-ably in the nation. Other shelters will see the vast support we re-ceived from our communities to make this a reality for our clients and their families and they will follow in our footsteps.

New facility created to empower victims

1

BY MARIE WAITECOVE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

COVE has been rebuilding lives and empowering families for 36 years in Mason, Lake and

Oceana counties. Five years ago a dream team

comprised of COVE staff, board members and volunteers as-sembled to decide the fate of the shelter. The continued inadequa-cies and the maintenance issues of the current facility made the feasibility of a complete remodel of the current shelter a financial impossibility. This led to the idea to build a completely new shelter that would house both the clients and the COVE administrative and advocacy staff on the same prem-ises. Transportation to and from counseling appointments and group activities always being an

issue, a space that would house everyone in one location and bring the programming to the clients was key.

A facility in Washington state was the first of its kind in the nation, not a group model home but an individual liv-ing unit style facility. This design was instantly appealing. As we op-erate on an empowerment model here at COVE, what better way to empower the victims of these ter-rible acts then to give them, for the first time, a shelter from their violent situations but also the op-portunity to still maintain some independence or, quite possibly for the first time, have indepen-dence.

Our new facility will have six small apartments where they can take care of their families by cooking family meals together and also having a place to go and quietly and privately begin the process of healing.

We knew this was the model that we needed. We knew that we were about to something unlike anybody else in the nation and were prepared to do whatever we had to make this a reality for the clients that we serviced. They de-served this...

So, after two years, the decision was made to build a new shelter based on this model. We em-barked on a three-year-long cam-paign to raise the funds to break ground. Finally in the spring of 2014 we did just that. We broke ground and throughout 2014 our amazing contractors led by Heir-

loom Construction, Josh Wickham and an amazing design by Kendra Thompson of Kendra Thompson Architects, PC we have seen an amazing transformation.

The dream is now a reality and our new facility with its offices for COVE staff, a community room for COVE programming and com-munity partnership programing, the donation station, the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) unit and its six individual liv-ing units will be celebrated in a grand opening on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

Our national media has been buzzing with heart-breaking stories of domestic violence and sexual assault. Now more than ever other public and private or-ganizations are seeing the need in our nation to raise awareness and provide funding for organi-

zations just like ours. It is un-fortunate that these instances have to occur for a nation to take notice. This is great news for our cause and for us the work starts right here in our own backyard.

There are no limits to what we will be able to accomplish. We have a staff with hearts fully in-vested in our mission. We have a board that is continually dedi-cated to our cause and because of that will ensure our future as a beacon of hope for the victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

We have built a facility unlike any other in Michigan and argu-ably in the nation. Other shelters will see the vast support we re-ceived from our communities to make this a reality for our clients and their families and they will follow in our footsteps.

Celebrating

New facility created to empower victims

COVE A special publication

of the Ludington Daily News

2

kendra c.THOMPSON

architects, p.c.

Congratulations!COVE

Proud to Partner with You on Your Building Project

Let’s Plan. Design.Construct. Together.

803 CHERRY ST.MANISTEE, MI 49660

t. 231.723-4195http://www.kendrathompson-architects.com

Kendra C. Thompson Architects, P.C.

2 | LUDIngTOn DaILy nEwS | COVE | MOnDay, FEBRUaRy 16, 2015www.ludingtondailynews.com

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and Mason County on your new building.We were happy to be a part of this project.

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COVE on a beautifulnew facility.

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MOnDay, FEBRUaRy 16, 2015 | LUDIngTOn DaILy nEwS | COVE | 3www.ludingtondailynews.com

Grand opening to feature tours, Miss AmericaSpreading the message that ‘Love Shouldn’t Hurt: Protecting Women Against Domestic Violence’

A public grand opening with a ribbon-cutting and tours of COVE’s new facility will take place from 3-6 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 17, 906 E. Ludington Ave.The community is invited to attend.Miss America 2015 Kira Kazantsev will

be at the event from 5-6 p.m. She will help Communities Overcom-

ing Violent Encounters spread the word about domestic violence awareness, her platform.

At a fundraising dinner at Lincoln Hills Golf Club that evening, 6:30-9:30 p.m., Kazantsev, a vocalist, will perform her talent, the song “Happy,” for the sold-out dinner crowd.

The hope is that event and the impend-ing completion of the building will help push COVE to its fundraising goal, with another $150,000 needed to fund the fi-nal portion of the project, a $2.7 million effort.

“We have a lot of confidence,” Kosla said of meeting the goal.

This final push will help fully fund the building, which means no mortgage.

“This is a big deal, a special deal,” Car-rie Kosla, COVE’s fundraising/community outreach coordinator, said of having Miss America here for the opening.

Kazantsev’s platform is officially “Love Shouldn’t Hurt: Protecting Women Against Domestic Violence,” which stems from her own experiences as a victim.

She seeks to give more exposure to the issue and works with Safe Horizon, the country’s leading domestic violence orga-nization.

The 22-year-old graduate of Hofstra University Honors College plans to attend law school and pursue work in women’s issues and international diplomacy, after she takes some time off following her

Miss America reign. Her parents are Russian immigrants

and she speaks fluent English, Russian and Spanish.

Kazantsev has been working with or-ganizations that support women as she hopes to set an example “for other vic-tims of not only being able to recover from an abusive relationship, but to move on and reach genuine happiness and suc-cess.”

She seeks to empower women to know that “regardless of what has happened in the past, you have the power to control the outcome of your future.”

In addition to her public appearance time, Miss America will attend a private breakfast event with COVE clients at Cart-ier Mansion, which has donated its loca-tion for the event.

“We can’t have them at public grand opening for privacy and safety purposes, so we’re going to give them some time with her,” said Kosla.

Kazantsev will be in Ludington Feb. 16-18, her first time visiting Michigan.

The grand opening is from 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 906 E. Ludington Ave.

a ribbon cutting is at 3 p.m., tours are from 3 to 6, and Miss America will be at the facil-ity to meet the public from 5 to 6 p.m.

Parking is at Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital’s southwestern lot, with bus trans-portation across the street.

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By MARIE WAITECOVE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Throughout its history, our shelter has been a suc-cession of worn, single-family homes. The first two houses rented to serve as shelters were located in Hart.

In 1987, COVE purchased a house in Ludington.At present, the contin-ued inefficiencies of this 110-year-old home have be-come an urgent and serious financial concern.

Precious funds and vol-unteer hours are con-stantly diverted toward maintenance and repair of

the aging shelter. Despite the constant challenges of keeping the age-worn shelter running smoothly and serving clients from a cramped office, COVE is highly effective in helping victims of abuse and vio-lence at their time of great-est need.

Please take a moment to look at the picture of our current Harrison Street shelter. This is a beauti-ful home and we hope that someone in the future will have the funds to restore it to its original grandeur.

It will go on the market after the shelter’s clients move out in March.

110-year-old home ready for

some TLC

6

6 | www.ludingtondailynews.com

Some of the kitchens will be

barrier free in case a client has

a disability.

Some of the clients’ rooms have the ability to be combined to accommodate several children.

Architect Kendra Thompson explains the next phase of the build during a walk-through with the COVE Board of Directors, including Bob Shrauger, left.

The facility has a covered

sidewalk for clients to get

out of the snow and rain while walking

back and forth from

their private living space to the COVE

offices.

Communities Overcoming

Violent Encoun-ters Executive

Director Marie Waite spends a moment at the

new COVE facility, which features

offices, individual client living units

and programming space. It’s across

the street from the temporary

offices COVE had been using.

Construction

JEFF KIESSEL And PATTI KLEVORn | DaILy nEwS phOTOS

7

6 | www.ludingtondailynews.com | 7

Painters work to put the finishing touches on the walls in the new COVE offices.

Contractors work to install the new office furniture.

Architect Kendra Thompson explains the next phase of the build during a walk-through with the COVE Board of Directors, including Bob Shrauger, left.

The new offices will be open for tours Tuesday.

Construction

JEFF KIESSEL And PATTI KLEVORn | DaILy nEwS phOTOS

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Congratulations C.O.V.E.

CongratulationsCOVE

We are proud to partner with COVE in beinga part of this building project for our community.

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9

It’s been a pleasure to be a part of completing such a worthwhile facility.

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Congratulations COVE and the community


COVE Board of directors Donna Yager, Board PresidentSusie Bradford Tripp, VPDavid Gibbs, TreasurerShelby Hughes, SecretaryNorma GilbertMatt JastrzembskiRobert ShraugerSylvia ShraugerTracy MoodyCathy GrabowskiSuzie AnthonyJane ThompsonDebra GoodwinChris DunnLynne Cavazos

The COVE Board of Directors poses with construction

manager Josh Wick-ham and architect Kendra Thompson

during a September tour of the facility,

partway through the build.

dAILy nEWS FILE PhOTO

Donna Yager

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Thank you for choosing Heirloom to partner with COVE.

Teaming our construction leadership with your vision hasbrought a first of its kind facility to our community.

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Thank you for letting us be a part of making

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PROUD TO HAVE BEEN A PART OFC.O.V.E. NEW LIVING CENTER!

COVEand thanks for enriching our community

with this new facility.

We were happy to assist in thecompletion of this project.

231-690-2263


Many ways to giveBrick for pathway, donor wall options available

The community already has raised — together with grants — $2.55 of the $2.7 million project.

Now, $150,000 remains toward the facility fundrais-ing effort.

There are many ways to give:

• Buy a brick to be placed in the walkway at the east entrance of the building, with size and price rang-ing from $150, $500 and $1,000.

• There is also a new do-nor wall, which will be un-veiled Tuesday during the grand opening.

Anyone wishing to give any amount can stop by the new shelter, 906 E. Luding-ton Ave., or call (231) 843-2541.

Carrie Kosla, COVE outreach and fundraising coordinator, ex-plains the funding needed to finish paying for COVE’s new fa-cility. Generous donors and grant money have come close to paying off the project, with the final fundraising push on now.

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YOU NEED IT, WE DO IT!

We are proud to have been involved with COVE’S new living center

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Congratulations CoveAND OUR COMMUNITY!


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