About The Women’s Center
Founded in 1977, The Women’s Center serves all impacted by domestic abuse, sexual violence, child abuse, and trafficking. As Waukesha County’s only agency of its kind in a county that spans 580 square miles, we provide a range of life-saving and life-changing programs and services that heal and empower adults and children on their paths to build a future free from violence.
The Women’s Center’s core philosophy is to ensure that the needs of survivors are met, that children are protected, and that families heal. Our programs are centered on meeting the unique needs of each client, and are designed to empower while providing basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, and transportation).
All of our services are offered confidentially and at no cost to survivors from all socio-economic levels. They include: emergency shelter and 24-Hour Hotline; domestic violence and sexual abuse 1:1 support; legal advocacy; transitional living and housing assistance; community education and violence prevention; rape crisis response; employment coaching and life-skills development; translation/interpretation in any language; and free on-site childcare for clients.
The mission of The Women’s Center is to provide safety, shelter and support to empower all impacted by domestic abuse, sexual violence, child abuse, and trafficking.
The Five Founding Mothers of The Women’s Center: Dr. Kathie Kueht, Dr. Kathryn Bemmann, Anne Beyers, Jeri Phillips, and Gerry Pas.
Community Partnerships
HAWS
To help keep survivors and their pets safe, we have a partnership with Humane Animal Welfare Society (HAWS) of Waukesha County. Survivors coming into shelter can bring their pets with them. The pets are temporarily housed in a safe place, then HAWS cares for them until the survivor has a safe place to go. This partnership helps remove a major barrier to safety.
LAP
We work with local law enforcement agencies, encouraging them to call our Hotline either from the scene or immediately after they are called to the scene of a domestic violence incident, so they can connect the victim to our services, and through the Lethality Assessment Protocol, which helps to ensure high risk victims are immediately identified & offered support and safe shelter.
SANE
We provide rape crisis response through partnerships with area hospitals and health centers, ensuring that immediate, on-site advocacy is available for survivors of sexual assault who report for a Sexual Assault Nurse Examination (SANE). Thank you to our partners in the SANE crisis response program: Aurora Health Care, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, and ProHealth Care.
History
Click the button to the right to download “A Vision for Women: The History of The Women’s Center of Waukesha, 1977-2007” by Ellen Langill, PhD.
May 1977
The Women’s Center opened its doors to provide services for women and children who experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, and abuse.
June 1981
Sister House (shelter) on Wright Street opened to provide emergency housing for victims of domestic violence. With the addition of the shelter, The Women’s Center also began providing 24-hour support through the crisis line.
1984
726 East Avenue was purchased to house the growing advocacy program and administrative staff.
1995
The five Founding Mothers of The Women’s Center won the Christoph Memorial YWCA Peacemaker Award.
2003
The Women’s Center opened the current 505 N. East Avenue facility.
2012
The Violence Prevention Initiative was established, which resulted in more prevention education being done in schools and in the community.
2017
We brought the Lethality Assessment Protocol to Waukesha County with the partnership of local law enforcement agencies.
2020
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, all of our programs and services continued, modified but uninterrupted, to support survivors during this critical time.
2020
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, all of our programs and services continued, modified but uninterrupted, to support survivors during this critical time.
