Jefferson County residents will get a rare glimpse into Mary’s House of Hope beginning May 14.
The first of three buildings in the housing complex for victims of domestic abuse and their families opened in early November, and Comtrea, which runs Mary’s House of Hope, is launching a video showcasing the building’s four apartments of varying sizes.
The video will be available beginning at 10 a.m. on Facebook at MarysHouseOfHopeProject and on the Comtrea website at comtrea.org/campaign.
Normally, the public would not be able to see the complex; its location is kept guarded for security reasons.
However, Kim Elbl, vice president of fundraising and development for Comtrea, said the pandemic-inspired move from live to virtual events inspired the idea to produce a video for public viewing.
“Normally, we probably would have had someone come in and take a few pictures,” said Nathanael Herbert, Comtrea’s marketing communications manager, who produced the video. “But in the video, you’ll get to see all the apartments, an exterior patio area in the rear of the building and a sitting area. We won’t show the front of the building for obvious reasons.”
Herbert said even though the apartment opened last fall, now is really the first opportunity to showcase it via video.
“We’ve had to furnish it with borrowed furniture because it’s taken so long to get deliveries of the furniture and appliances we’ve had on back order because of COVID,” he said. “We still don’t have it all furnished. For one of the bedrooms, we moved furniture from another for the video. A common area we still don’t have the furniture for.”
In addition, Comtrea staff members have had their attention diverted from spending a lot of time furnishing the new building with COVID testing and holding vaccination clinics.
The three-minute, 45-second video also will include a few words from: Sue Curfman, Comtrea’s chief executive officer and president; Barb Tenholder, director of A Safe Place and Mary’s House of Hope; Norinee Thomas, manager of therapeutic service; and Elbl.
Mary Daniels, who was killed by her estranged husband in 2010, was the inspiration for the facility, and her daughter, Alexis Daniels, talks about her feelings in the video.
Daniels’ mother, Sylvia Daniels, and Mary’s best friend, Kristy Neuman, started the capital campaign to raise money to build the complex.
“We really want two things from this video,” Herbert said. “We want those who have donated to this campaign to see what their financial support has done. We also want to showcase our story – and the story of the women who will be living here – to others who might be encouraged to help.
“We’re hoping that now that we have the first apartment open, people who might have been on the fence know that this is possible and see the need for a facility such as this.”
Elbl will speak about Circle of Hope, a fund that finances the day-to-day operations of Mary’s House of Hope.
That fund recently was bolstered by $4,880 generated through the Home Shopping Network’s recent “$1,000 A Day Giveaway” fundraiser. The network donated $1,000 to a featured charitable organization each day during April and then matched donations from the public.
Mary’s House of Hope is a transitional housing complex for women who need long-term assistance moving from A Safe Place, a more short-term shelter for victims of domestic violence that Comtrea also operates. Some of the women need help with education or job skills, and Mary’s House of Hope provides a place for them to live while they go to school or get training.
A capital campaign is ongoing to build the other two units in the complex.
For information about A Safe Place or Mary’s House of Hope, call 636-232-2339.
Domestic violence hotlines
Comtrea officials advise those who experience domestic violence to call the agency’s A Safe Place hotline at 636-232-2301 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for help. Both lines are open around the clock. Calls are confidential.