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For 30 years, Mainstay has offered a lifeline

Tanya Blackford talks about Mainstay's history.

By Bill Moss, Published: October 31, 2014

Renee Kumor recalled that a few courageous women harbored domestic violence victims in "secret shelters" — their homes — before Hendersonville had an agency that would do that.

 

Former Sheriff George Erwin remembered going on a call to help a young wife whose husband had moved her to Hendersonville, beat her up and taken all her belongings. Her face was black and blue but she wouldn't press charges; she just wanted to go home to Tennessee.
"So we took up a collection to buy her a bus ticket and buy her food so she could go home," he said. "Those are the types of stories that happened before Mainstay."
Seventy-five people gathered in the 100 block of Fifth Avenue West on Monday to celebrate Mainstay's 30th anniversary, look back on the agency's history and look forward to its future. The agency started in a tiny office "under the steps" of City Hall, moved several times and recovered after a fire gutted its shelter.
Mainstay President Elizabeth Moss thanked the crowd for its support and introduced board member Karyn Spreeman, who experienced Mainstay's lifeline firsthand.
"I found myself in some rough waters and I came to Mainstay," Spreeman said. "I needed a place for a safe haven and they gave it to me."

 

Mainstay turns 30


• 1984: Women's Crisis Ministry, founded by Trinity Presbyterian Church, merges with Mainstay, formed to help domestic violence victims. The next year Mainstay got space in the Historic Courthouse and hired a director.
• 1990: Mainstay opens a thrift store, a primary source of revenue.
• 1995: Mainstay's shelter was gutted by fire.
• 1996: After a renovation, Mainstay moves into the Wall Building at 125 S. Main St.
• 2006: Mainstay partners with Housing Assistance Corp. to create a four-unit transitional apartment building.
• 2008-11: Agency moved its shelter, administrative offices and thrift store to Fifth Avenue West, gaining space and expanding services with additional beds and drop-in daycare.
• May 2013: Mainstay opens Dandelion cafe, which teaches jobs skills and helps abuse victims gain independence.
• October 2014: Opens Family Justice Center, a clearinghouse agency for victim assistance, in cooperation with DSS, district attorney, law enforcement agencies and Pisgah Legal Services.

She got on her feet and became a successful real estate agent. Without Mainstay, she said, the turnaround would never have happened.
George Erwin recalls working with Mainstay to help domestic violence victims.George Erwin recalls working with Mainstay to help domestic violence victims.After he became sheriff in 1994, Erwin recalled making domestic abuse a high priority. The sheriff's office would bring charges even if the victim would not press them on her own. Old-timers were skeptical. How could the D.A. prosecute a case when the victim would not testify?
"My answer to that," he said, "was I never had a murder victim testify."
Through his work with a Florida State University program tackling domestic violence in law officers' families, Erwin was asked if he knew an agency that could lead the training for North Carolina. Yes, he said. Mainstay, in Hendersonville, N.C.
Quoting Gen. George Patton, Erwin exhorted the crowd to "accept the challenge and experience the exhilaration of victory."
"Let's accept the challenge," he said, "and celebrate the exhilaration of victory when we can eradicate domestic violence."