Two victims of domestic violence, a mother and her child, ride north from St. Ignace in a car driven by Kathy Keaton. They have found emergency shelter and hope at the Diane Peppler Resource Center in Sault Ste. Marie and Ms. Keaton, a victim advocate, will get them there.

She is part of the free network that helps people in Luce, Mackinac, and Chippewa counties find help, in this case by providing transportation to a mother and child in need of a quick exit from an unsafe situation.

Ms. Keaton of St. Ignace and her counterpart in Newberry, Phyllis French, provide counseling and other services, which includes transportation, for women and children with no safe place to go.

Most clients stay at the shelter from a few days to several weeks, and while there, the staff helps them contact their extended families, work with the court system, and deal with police, seeking to resolve the problems that arise from domestic violence.

Domestic violence affects men and women of all ethnic and financial backgrounds, and in 27 years of working at the Peppler Center, Executive Director Doreen Howson has noticed that domestic violence has remained a remarkably consistent problem.

Between its main house and two outreach centers in St. Ignace and Newberry, the Peppler Center serves approximately 174 clients a year.

"The numbers aren't increasing or decreasing," she said, "but one thing people need to know is that domestic violence is not a private matter." If people don't reach out, she said, "we can't eliminate this crime."

The problem, she said, may be more accurately termed domestic abuse, because it is a far more complex issue than physical violence, and it centers on power and control that can be expressed in a number of ways. Power and control is a dangerous combination that can lead to sexual, emotional, and even financial subjugation of one person by another, Ms. Howson said.

While domestic violence includes married women who have been physically abused by their husbands, it also occurs among unmarried couples who live together, and dating couples who live apart. And physical abuse doesn't always leave a mark, she added. Slapping, pushing, hair pulling, and other assaults can leave no trace.

Many victims of domestic abuse don't seek services because they think they must show a black eye or other mark, Ms. Howson explained. People need to know

that they don't have to prove they've been abused to get help from the Peppler Center, she said. In fact, the Peppler staff encourages people to seek help before negative situations escalate into violence.

One common form of domestic abuse is financial control.

"We helped someone who had never had access to any funds," she said. "No checks. No access to credit cards." The person didn't even know what bank the family's money was in, she said. Maintaining such control is one of several methods for an abuser to get what he or she wants, Ms. Howson said. Abusers tend to degrade their victims and insist that their domestic problems are caused by the victims themselves.

Sexual abuse is yet another serious problem, she added, and the most commonly understood form is outright rape. Sex is used as an abusive control tactic in other ways, too, she said. When a couple has a fight, for example, and the conflict wanes, some abusers try to use sex as a way to make up for what they've said or done. Often, their victims do not want to have sex after the conflict, but they are afraid to say no, Ms. Howson said.

The definition of domestic violence has many facets that few realize are common, she added, such as when elderly people are victimized by their caretakers. Perpetrators are sometimes their adult children, relatives, or people hired caretakers.

Recognizing a need to help people in all of these situations, the shelter in Sault Ste. Marie began offering services in Chippewa County in 1979. Over time, the organization has expanded to Luce and Mackinac counties. The home in Sault Ste. Marie

remains the headquarters of the Diane Peppler Resource Center organization. It is a safe haven for women and children who could be abused further by a spouse or companion. The house is well protected by the police, and there, residents can receive advocacy services and counseling from certified therapists.

Certified therapist Nancy Graham works at the Sault Ste. Marie house, and every Thursday she commutes to an extension of the Peppler Center on State Street in St. Ignace.

In Luce County, Phyllis French provides counseling. She has an office in the county building, where she also provides advocacy services.

In St. Ignace, Kathy Keaton serves as a victim advocate, and in Sault Ste. Marie there are several advocates who work full and part time

Victim advocates can provide limited counseling, but their primary goal is to assist clients with tasks such as obtaining personal protection orders, court orders that forbid abusers to approach, or call, their victims. Once these orders are in place, an abuser can be arrested for violating them, Mrs. Howson said.

Advocates may also contact landlords of behalf of their clients, help them with medical paperwork, contact schools, call employers, and work with agencies that may already be providing them services, such as Michigan Works! and Hiawatha Behavioral Health.

A focus of the Peppler organization is to ensure that people do not lose services they already receive.

Helping victims of domestic abuse has been much easier for the Peppler Center since police in the Eastern Upper Peninsula adopted a "pro-arrest policy," Ms. Howson said. Now, when police arrive at a scene of domestic violence, they interview both the victim and abuser and analyze the area where the alleged abuse takes place.

If police believe abuse has taken place, they can make arrests without a warrant. When this happens, the Peppler Center is immediately notified and the staff offers its services.

In these situations, perpetrators are arraigned within 24 hours, and the judge forbids contact until the victim and abuser go to court, Ms. Howson said.

As many as 27 women and their families have been housed in the Sault Ste. Marie shelter at a time, but this concentration has become uncommon, she added. Since the Peppler Center created its outreach centers and instituted other programs, the shelter has housed an average of three to five adults and their children at a time.

Women who have been physically, emotionally, financially, or sexually abused are all welcome at the shelter, Ms. Howson said.

Men are also victims of domestic violence, Ms. Howson explained, and they receive the same services the Peppler organization offers to women.

To avoid compromising the mostly-female environment of the main house, however, men are directed to a homeless shelter run by the Sault Ste. Marie Housing Commission called Safe Haven, or to pre-arranged motel accommodations in Luce, Mackinac, or Chippewa counties.

The Peppler staff has made the Sault Ste. Marie shelter a homelike environment, Ms. Howson said, and women and children who stay there often form strong bonds. It is a dynamic environment, she added. People are always baking, and on some days, it is a very happy place to be.

When a new client arrives, the focus shifts to helping that person, who is likely to be suffering great emotional and physical pain.

For assistance or to donate to the Diane Peppler Resource Center, call (800) 882-1515.