SHELTER COORDINATOR OFFERS SUPPORT

HELPING HANDS: A local with a big Heart supports survivors in her community

Story by Bianca RawlingsPhotos by Felicia Frazar

Stephanie Johnson has lived in Seguin most of her life, but it wasn’t until she moved back to be closer to family after her grandfather’s passing that she found out about the Guadalupe Valley Family Violence Shelter.

“I was born here, raised here, but never knew there was a shelter here until I moved back.” Johnson said.

It was during college that she stumbled across a volunteer ad in the Seguin Gazette for the shelter and decided it would be a good use of her time. Johnson started as a volunteer nearly 14 years ago, a few years later she became a case manager. Now she is currently the Sexual Assault Program Coordinator and Case Manager at the Guadalupe Valley Family

Violence Shelter.

She uses her time well at the shelter. From assisting with the creation of programs and providing support for countless families, Johnson continues to lean into every role she takes on at the shelter.

“As a volunteer I started out answering phones a couple hours a week and never thought I would be a full-time employee,” Johnson said.

Johnson may have never guessed it at the time, but she gave it her all and has since become a strong supporter of survivors of abuse across the four counties — Guadalupe, Gonzales, Karnes and Wilson — served by the shelter.

“She is a knowledgeable and experienced advocate, has built a strong working relationship with our community partners, and deserves a great deal of credit for the growth of our Sexual Assault Service Program,” Guadalupe Valley Family Violence Shelter Executive Director Jennifer Fernandez said. “Stephanie has taken a lead role in developing our Human Trafficking Services Program and is a go-to member of our staff… She is truly an asset to our leadership team.”

Fernandez admitted the job is not easy.

“We carry our clients’ trauma with us every day.”

Johnson agreed, adding the sadness and stress can be overwhelming at times but by having coworkers to lean on, it makes even the darkest days brighter.

“It is better to laugh than to cry, especially when going on tough calls,” she said.

Johnson knows the difference she makes to her clients is worth the hard work, especially when she has a client continue to update her about how they are doing or reach out just to talk. No matter the time of day or night, she is there to listen with an open mind and heart.

Johnson works closely with Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners to ensure that the shelter is notified each time there is a sexual assault in the four counties. She said as a new staff member, she was surprised to learn that simply getting a SANE exam or services did not require a police report to be made.

“In the future, I would like to gain more volunteers, go into the schools...to talk about consent and what is and what is not sexual assault, and I would like it to be where people are more comfortable and felt like there was no judgment in calling the shelter, even just to ask a question,” Johnson said.

She feels like this can be done with education and pointed out when she started out as a volunteer that she unaware of the work the shelter does on a daily basis, and the ins and outs of the cycle of domestic violence, and how it is broken.

Johnson hopes to continue to grow the shelter’s services, be able to support many more survivors, and start a conversation about safety from family violence throughout the community.