WAYNE, Mich. – Trying to move on with everyday life can be tough for any family dealing with domestic or sexual abuse, especially when young children are involved. Now, a local organization is providing families with a peaceful place to heal during such a difficult time.
"We try to maintain a very normal home like environment," said First Step CEO, Amy Youngquist. "So we're different than other shelters where you have just a bunch of cots in a gymnasium and we have a very home like mini apartment-like suites that families share."
First Step is a Wayne organization specializing in providing care for families of domestic and sexual violence. It unveiled a healing garden and outdoor fitness center this month.
"The research shows that free play and unstructured play is really the best thing for kids," Youngquist said. "We really model it after what hospitals are doing national wide which they're creating a lot of healing gardens. We try to have something for everybody from a one year old to a 17 year old to a 55 year old."
And the peaceful environment is helping family members cope, too.
Youngquist said the serene space helps clients battle depression and other conditions.
Jonathan Dreyfuss of Greenspace Systems designed the garden space.
"Healing gardens, per say, have become fairly ubiquitous in hospital settings and I realized this was a perfect setting and opportunity to build in these distinct spaces for not just the residents but also for the staff," Dreyfuss said. "There is a lot of deep emotional scarring and trauma these folk go through and I realize they really needed a place to come to where they could relax and get back to sort of being human again."
For nearly 40 years, First Step has provided this service free of charge. The new space allows them to help these survivors eventually move on to a normal and healthy lifestyle.
Some shelters only allow victims to stay for around 30 days. At First Step, families can stay for three months up to around a year. Field trips to places like the zoo are provided for the kids while the adults receive one on one counseling or sometimes in groups.
For more information on First Step, visit: www.firststep-mi.org.