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Reading from:
THE THRESHOLDPOF HEAVEN
Book signing party following
THUR., OCT. 12-7:30 PM
of GUILD HOUSE 802 Monroe

Page 2-Thursday, October 12, 197--The Michigan Daily
NOW OPENS SAFE HOUSE:
Ba ered women ind refuge


refreshments

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By BETH ROSENBERG
Jerry Gaines ran away from her
husband because he beat her. She went
into hiding with her five children, but
her spouse found her. Upon refusing to
go back to him, Gaines' tempermental
husband threatened her with a rifle.
Though the names change, the
situation is similar for thousands of bat-
tered women in the United States today.
Unlike many of these women, Gaines
found the courage to pack her bags and
take her children elsewhere in search of
safety.
IN THIS CASE, refuge was found at
the Shelter Available For Emergency
(SAFE) House which is at an un-
disclosed location in Washtenaw Coun-
ty.
The shelter, developed by the
Washtenaw County National
Organization of Women (NOW) Wife
Assault Task Force, provides food,
clothing, housing, and optional com-

munity resource referrals for battered
women and their children.
Many physically abused women stay
with their mates because they feel
trapped with no way out. Reasons for
remaining include love, economic
dependency, and shame. Very often
things are fine for the couple between
beatings.
LORRAINE LAFATA, a VISTA
volunteer since January 1977, said the
House began as a place where women
could get together and support each
other.
"One (staff) person is assigned to
each woman to be her sounding board.
We try to get the woman calmed and
settled in the house; however, no
woman is forced into counseling. We do
have that service, but it's strictly
voluntary," explained Lafata.
Housing is a major problem for bat-
tered women because they try to main-
tain low profiles, according to SAFE

House legislative cooidinator Debbie
Eisenberg.
"NINETY PER cent of SAFE House
women go on welfare or ADC right
away. It pays for their stay here."
SAFE House, which opened in March
1978, is run in a communal-type living
situation, according to Eisenberg, and
women-can choose their own jobs in the
cooperative.
"We do have certain rules. No violen-
ce is allowed in the house. Drugs,
alcohol, and smoking in bedrooms are
not permitted," Eisenberg said.
THE HUGE English Tudor mansion
has seven bedrooms with donated fur-
niture. "We can house up to 32
people-five to ten women, and 11 to 12
children," said Lafata.
The state legislature recently ap-
propriated funds to build a house in
Wayne County..As one of only six such
houses in the stae, SAFE House is in-
tended for women and their children

from Washtenaw County, but, accor-
ding to Eisenberg, has had women from
other states.
Kathy Fojtik, former SAFE House
director, says staff and volunteers work
with women so they don't develop a
dependency on the house, other women,
or men.
Older women also take advantage of
SAFE House. "Middle-aged women are
beat too. They feel a sense of despair,
and that a lot more is going against
them than the younger woman," ex-
plained Lafata, "and I don't think
anything (the decision) is all of a sud
den."
"They may put our number in their
wallet for years," said Eisenberg, "but
it's there when they need it."
For referral or to contact SAFE
House, call the Domestic Violence
Project, or the Assault Crisis Center in
Ann Arbor.

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Employment bill nears passage

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Prospects for
passage of the Humphrey-Hawkins
"full employment" bill improved
yesterday when senators meeting
privately agreed to changes calling for
a sharp reduction in inflation as well as
joblessness.
Formal Senate debate on the
measure was put off as eight senators
met privately trying to negotiate the
terms of a compromise.

SOURCES' SAID they agreed to a
provision calling for a reduction of in-
flation to three per cent by 1983 as part
of an effort to give the measure an in-
creased emphasis on inflation.
"I'm convinced we're trying to work
out an agreement, but I'm not convin-
ced we have one yet," said Senator Bob
Dole, (R-Kan.), after a closed-door
session.
Another participant in the meeting,


BACKWHEN I WAS INSCHOOL MY
BASEBALL COACH TOLD ME THAT SOMEDAY
THERE'D BE A LESS FILLING BEER. HE
ALSO TOLD ME TO TRYOUT FOR GLEE CLUB:'

Senator Harrison Williams, (D-N.J.)
said the chance for agreement on a bill
appeared favorable.
IT WAS NOT clear how organized
labor and the coalition of civil rights
and church groups, who have been
pushing the bill, would respond to the
changes.
The legislation calls for reducing
national unemployment to four per cent
of the labor force and three per cent of
adults by 1983.
Several Republican and Democratic:
senators have been insisting on iner-;
ting a companion goal for reducing in-:
flation, however.
INFLATION HAS been running at an
annual rate of around 10 per cent it
recent months, and unemployment was
six per cent of the work force in Sep-
tember.
Sources said the compromise bill also
was likely to call for a reduction in
spending as a percentage of the Gross.
National Product as well as a balanced
budget, and eventually reducing in-
flation to zero.
The bill, named for Representative
Augustus Hawkins, (D-Calif.), and the
late Senator Hubert Humphrey, was
originally envisioned as a measure
declaring that unemployment was the
nation's, most pressing economic
problem.
BUT AT THE same time, the bill did
not mandate any programs to meet the
unemployment goal.
The measure cleared the House 'of
Representatives easily earlier in te.
year, but debate in the Senate was
delayed when a filibuster was
threatened.
If the bill is to have any chance of
passage this year, key senators will
have to agree in advance on at least the
outlines of the iiportant provisions.
That is because as the Senate nears
the end of its session, any senator can
effectively block approval of a bill by
exercising his rights under the rules:
The Senate is hoping to complete its
session on Saturday,
Granada, a trading center on th(
shores of Lake Nicaragua in Central
America, is 100 miles long and 45 miles
wide. It was founded in 1524 by th
Conquistador Francisco Hernandez de
Cordoba.
AERIP REFORTS
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