TIFTON — Ruth’s Cottage and The Patticake House are still carrying on doing the important work of domestic violence and abuse victim advocacy and community outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nancy Bryan, executive director of Ruth’s Cottage and The Patticake House, said that they currently have 16 individuals in shelter at the moment.

“Our requests for shelter and for temporary protective orders are higher than this time last year but not by a huge number,” Bryan said in an email interview. “The Patticake House is doing interviews as needed and is not yet seeing a spike there, but with child abuse cases, those normally will take some time post incidents to get reported.”  

She said they are expecting to see more reports of child abuse down the road.

Bryan said RPCPH has a Pandemic Emergency Preparedness and Action Plan in place.  

“We have masks to be used as needed,” she said. “We have staff working in a system with options to work at home, some home/office mix and some full on shelter staff as usual.”   

Bryan said that the shelter is having challenges grocery shopping to get what they need when there are limits on how many necessities an individual can buy.  

“We have multiple people who are trying to shop so that we have enough milk and bread on hand,” she said. “Cleaning supplies have been tricky so we have bought what we could, begged for donations, and right now are okay on all those things.

“Overall, we are doing well and no one is sick amongst our staff or residents. That is a huge blessing.”

She said that while the pandemic has caused them to cancel much of the planned outreach for April, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, they are trying to use social media to get the word out.      

She said they are working on a new commercial to air on local channels and are increasing their social media presence.

For example, Apr. 7 was Wear Teal Day, and the center posted pictures of individuals wearing teal to raise awareness of domestic violence.

Ruth’s Cottage is also engaging in a virtual Clothesline Project.

The project was created to bring awareness to violence against women, men and children, acting as a memorial to victims and a way to honor survivors. Those who have been affected decorate a t-shirt and hang it on a clothesline in a visible location. This year, that project will be all online, with participants sending in photos of their t-shirts.

Anyone experiencing domestic violence or suspecting child abuse can access the following resources:

• 24-hour statewide domestic violence hotline- 1-800-334-2836.

• Georgia Division of Family and Children Services- 1-855-422-4453.

• Teens experiencing domestic violence can text 706-765-8019.

• A list of community resources is available at cjcc.georgia.gov/community-resources-directory-victim-assistance-programs.