News Photo by Julie Riddle Comfortable backyard furniture under a new gazebo offers residents of Hope Shores Alliance’s Alpena safehouse a welcoming place to call home after a summer renovation.

ALPENA–A spruced-up back yard makes a house feel like a home.

That was the motivating force behind recent upgrades to the Hope Shores Alliance safehouse, a shelter in Alpena that offers temporary housing to survivors of sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, and domestic violence

Grand funding allowed the Alpena agency to give the home’s exterior a much-needed facelift this summer, offering its residents a taste of home in the midst of crisis.

Donated funds from the Alpena Rotary Club, the Community Foundation of Northeast Michigan, and the Mary Kay Foundation, matched by a grant from the Besser Foundation, provided close to $20,000 for aesthetic and practical repairs of the outdoor living space around the safehouse.

The upgrade, begun in late spring with powerwashing and painting of badly peeled porches and stairs, included replacing overgrown landscaping, painting a security fence that borders the small back yard, and replacing unstable, ankle-twisting paths with pavers. A gazebo and comfortable chairs replaced the antiquated, wrought-iron yard furniture, providing a place for moms to sit and talk while their kids play on the new wood-and-colored-plastic playset.

Thousands of people have been through the safehouse’s front door — also replaced this summer — since it was given to Hope Shores by a local church in 1978, according to Hope Shores Executive Director Valerie Williams.

Six bedrooms offer housing for individuals or families, most of whom stay for anywhere from two weeks to three months. Hope Shores staff assist safehouse residents with whatever needs they may have, from finding a car, a doctor, or a job, to getting their kids signed up for school or filling out paperwork for personal protection orders.

People who come to the safehouse come in a time of crisis, Williams said. They are not just without a place to stay.

The trauma of crime or violence “just kind of shakes your foundation,” Williams said. “It causes people to think, where can I go? What do I have?

“That’s the service that they’re getting from us,” she added, “is coming home from work every day after school and having a table to sit at, where it’s safe and where they can be a family again.”

Williams likens the need for a physically appealing environment for those facing trauma to a hospital waiting room or medical office. At a time when people feel physically vulnerable, Williams said, they need a physical space that radiates healing and hope.

The outdoor renovations will be matched by indoor improvements in coming months, Williams said, thanks to a grant of $4,110 from Zonta International, awarded at the beginning of August. The Zonta grant will be used to purchase furniture for the living spaces and four of the bedrooms.

A recent $5,000 grant from Walmart will be used toward operations and maintenance and to keep Hope Shores’ 24/7 crisis line operational.

The need for a safe place for survivors of abuse is not going to go away any time soon, Williams said, “So we need to make sure that we’re there … and maybe inspiring healing.”

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.