After 20 years of service, Nancy Cederlind, is stepping down as Executive Director of Haven House and Amy Munderloh is stepping in.
Haven House has been continually evolving over the 20 years that Cederlind was at the helm as the agency worked to make access to help for abuse victims more readily available.
Cederlind said some of those changes included how the organization is working closer with law enforcement, is more sensitive to victim’s needs, knows how to better assist victims, and helps to hold offenders accountable.
“We serve an average of 300 new clients per year and for our shelter services, last year I believe we sheltered a total of 90 individuals including adults and children between the two shelter locations. When I first started, I think our average cliental was maybe 5 people per month, so we’ve increased a great deal,” Cederlind said.
Any community group or organization interested in learning more about domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking or any of the other topics Haven House covers, can contact Haven House so they can come and speak, Cederlind said.
“When I started with the agency we had just one office location here in Wayne. Over the years, we were able to expand,” Cederlind said.
Haven House currently has two shelter locations, one in Wayne and the other in Dakota county, and is set up to aid other counties like Cedar, Dakota, Dixon and Thurston. According to Cederlind, this second location was made possible by donations from the community. A satellite location is also set up in South Sioux City.
“We own one of our facilities, and thanks to generous donations we were able to purchase a shelter and pay it off completely with money gained from donations,” Cederlind said. “We’re working on that property now, trying to make improvements, putting in some new flooring and working on winterizing.”
Cederlind hopes to see the agency move forward and said she is happy seeing new energy coming in. She also hopes services continue to improve to better aid victims of any sexual violence.
Munderloh hopes to get involved and get a pulse on what is needed in the community. The future of Haven House will be a continuation of current services and programs as well as further aiding the community, according to both Munderloh and Cederlind.
“I’m excited to get started and serve the needs of the community. Right now, we provide shelter for domestic violence victims,” Munderloh said. “We also provide emergency transportation, financial assistance, protection, order assistance, criminal justice advocacy, medical and legal advocacy, child advocacy, and resource and referral assistance.”
Anyone wishing to donate to Haven House can contact them in a multitude of ways: Facebook, calling, quarterly newsletters, participating in the Partners Program, or coming in to an office location.
If Haven House has immediate needs for supplies, they typically post a listing on Facebook. For furniture and other large items, individuals should call ahead of time so storage won’t become an issue.
For the winter months, groups are helping with projects like adopting families and making baskets.
“Especially around Christmas time we are so inspired and humbled by the generosity of the community, and we hope to continue doing those projects in the future,” Munderloh said.
“We are so thankful for the support and donations we’ve received throughout the year and especially during this holiday season when families are in crisis and really need our support. Without the community's support we wouldn’t be able to do that."
