29 Sep 2022 Shelter Director retires after two decades of offering ‘Safe Place’ to families

By Tammy Keith

When the Rev. Jo Warren was asked to become executive director of The Safe Place Inc. Shelter in Conway County, she recalled that she said “there’s no way I would do that.”

Two days later, she changed her mind. Two decades later, she’s retiring from the role she’s poured her heart into.

She was a newly ordained minister in 2001 and had been on the board of The Safe Place Inc. for two years. “My thought was, ‘I’m looking for a church’ [to pastor].” The chairman at the time persisted. “He said, ‘I really think you’re the person for this.’” She told him she would pray about it and see if God changed the desire of her heart. Boy, did she get an answer. “Within two days, I was ready to go,” she said. Her first official day was Jan. 1, 2002.

The nonprofit world was unfamiliar to her, but abuse wasn’t. She grew up in Kansas in a family who only sporadically attended church, she said. “Yes, my dad was an abuser and was abusive to my mother. This was in the ’50s and ’60s; you didn’t have counselors talking about this. We weren’t really churched, so we didn’t get a lot of support that way.”

Warren and her husband, Gordon, and their three children first moved to Hampton to work with a research and development program associated with the government’s Strategic Defense Initiative. Her husband became a pastor, and they moved to Louisiana, then to Morrilton at the end of 1993 for her husband’s church position. Warren also felt called to the ministry and became ordained, too. It turned out the shelter board wanted someone with a college degree and the heart to serve survivors of domestic violence, she said.

The shelter has a 14-bed capacity, serving women, men and their children primarily in Conway and Perry counties.

Warren said she had her hands full in the beginning, working 60-80 hours a week and sometimes staying overnight at the shelter because the staff was so small. “I got busy right away cleaning and organizing, making it more of a home,” she said. The family-like atmosphere is evident at dinnertime, Warren said, when all residents and their children sit together and learn manners and respect.

Patty Davis, shelter manager and court advocate, said Warren has made huge changes in the shelter. “She brought the shelter’s condition from sub-standard to well above average. It increased the morale of the staff,” Davis said. “She has a huge Christian heart. She’s always looking for ways to build someone up.”

During the residents’ stay, which is typically 45-60 days, they receive clothing for job interviews and attend educational classes, including life skills, self-esteem, budgeting and more. When they move out, they receive help finding housing, and the shelter provides everything to set up a home, from furniture to pots and pans.

Davis, the court advocate, helps assist victims with orders of protection and navigate other legal matters. A satellite office opened in 2018 in Perryville.

Warren said she has expanded the in-house children’s advocate role and is perhaps most proud of the shelter’s work in domestic-violence prevention. The staff began going into elementary schools to address bullying and later added information about dating violence for older students in Conway and Perry counties.

“Before COVID, we were making presentations to 6,000 students a year. We’re having to build it back,” she said. “We’ve had kids come back and say, ‘I was in a bad relationship, and I realize it now, because I had that class.’ Or, we’ve had kids go to their counselors and say, “I think my dad is abusive.” There’s no way to really track, but we feel like there’s been an impact. We pray for that, as well.” Warren said that when the shelter got on strong footing, she accepted a full-time pastor position. She and her husband now co-pastor Trinity Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

As Warren steps away from her role at the shelter, she’ll take with her the many success stories. She recalled participating in the wedding ceremony of a former resident about 12 years ago. “That was an exciting thing. She had gotten things turned around,” Warren said, adding that the couple “is still doing well.”

Warren said she decided it was time to retire to help her husband, who has Parkinson’s disease, and “I’m also 71 years old, OK? It’s time to retire,” she said, laughing. They plan to move to Dardanelle to be closer to one of their sons. Warren said the shelter is in good hands with new executive director Mary Wood, who was the shelter’s Perry County court advocate. In spite of her legacy, Warren deflects praise for the shelter’s progress.

“All of this has been possible because of the help, especially my staff. I’ve had great staff through the years, a tremendous board, and the community. I feel like if it wasn’t for those three, we wouldn’t have been as successful.” But it took her saying “yes” 20 years ago for it to happen.

For more information about The Safe Place, call 501.354.1884 or visit thesafeplacearkansas.com.  

The Safe Place operates a 24/7 crisis hotline for Conway and Perry Counties that’s answered by a trained advocate: 888.554.2501