Hope Shores Alliance celebrates 40 years with opening of new outreach center

Atlanta — Hope Shores Alliance threw a celebration in honor of 40 years of service to northeast Michigan by opening the Montmorency County Outreach & Services Center.

The festivities coincided with domestic violence awareness month, so many wore purple or stuck purple ribbon stickers on their shirts. This marks the fourth Hope Shores Alliance location in Northeast Michigan and the first in Montmorency County.

“To have people in your community near your house that you can safely go to to get help is a really big deal,” said Hope Shores Alliance Board President Esther Hines-Ableidinger. “They don’t need to travel so far, and you still feel welcome in your community so to have those services here means a lot to many people to have more access.”

The nonprofit was founded in 1977 in Alpena as Shelter Inc. Hope Shores later expanded to serve Alcona, Alpena, Iosco, Montmorency, and Presque Isle Counties. In 2016, Shelter Inc. went through a rebranding process to be called Hope Shores Alliance.

The organization credits the Sexual Assault Demonstration Initiative (SADI) for helping enhance sexual assault outreach and services. Hope Shores was one of six agencies in the nation to receive funding and guidance from this SADI back in 2011. In the 2017/2018 year, Hope Shores Alliance provided service for 292 domestic assault cases and helped 34 adults and 72 children transition into new homes.

“To see the successes from the work and people’s lives get better and relationships get repaired,” said Hope Shores Alliance Board Member Mike Kelly on what this means to the organization. “I think those are the biggest things and that’s really, at the end of the day, our mission and purpose.”

To learn more about Hope Shores Alliance, visit the link http://hopeshores.org/