About Us

Sojourner Center is a residential program founded in 1977 that started as a small house with 28 beds to support women coming out of prison and transitioning back into the community.

Sojourner Center’s residential program has grown to a facility with the capacity for 124 shelter beds and 32 transitional housing apartments.

We serve over 1,000 individuals each year with emergency shelter, transitional housing, and/or comprehensive services (Lay Legal, Community Outreach) to support them in becoming self-reliant and find safe and stable housing. About 50% of these individuals are children and 48% of these children are under the age of 5.

In 2017, Sojourner Center became a subsidiary organization of Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JFCS) while maintaining its own name, brand, and 501 (c) (3) status.

In its four decades of dedicated work and accomplishments, Sojourner Center has evolved into a national leader in domestic violence.

Today, Sojourner Center is committed to expanding our safety net of services for women, children, men and pets. Shelter is critical, but we must provide more if we want to achieve a world free from domestic violence. We are extending our services further into the community through education and prevention.

Our mission, vision and logo reflect this expanded view of domestic violence. The butterfly logo is a symbol of growth and transformation. Look closely: Our logo’s butterfly is formed by the hands of an adult and child that when joined together, become a powerful symbol of hope and transformation – and our journey.

Sojourner Center was incorporated in 1977 and began as a halfway house for women being released from prison.

The founders believed that women released from prison with no support system would soon return to criminal activities due to peer influence or the need to support themselves.  Police and other agencies soon began referring non-offenders in crisis.  These were primarily victims of domestic violence or women with serious mental illness who were homeless.

The shelter was located at 357 North 4th Avenue in two old houses purchased from Jay Stuckey, Sr., owner of Stuckey Insurance.  The founding board members mortgaged their homes to secure the purchase of the buildings.  In the beginning the staff consisted almost exclusively of CETA workers.  Over time, these were replaced with Sojourner’s own staff, however, many had to keep a second job as the paychecks were irregular.

Over the first four years, the staff and board were called more and more to meet the needs of women in crisis.   They also discovered that the most often reason cited for homelessness was domestic violence.  The staff began to provide specialized programming for these forced-to-flee in order to help them with their needs.  In 1982, the Board determined that the organization would exclusively service victims of domestic violence.

Through the years, Sojourner Center has developed a comprehensive approach to domestic violence.  The programs include shelter, counseling, community case management and support groups, and children’s programming.

In the early years of the center, one of the houses was destroyed by fire.  The other was remodeled and repaired with a new structure, transitional housing apartments, built behind the main house.  There was little room for growth and the grounds were never able to be secured.  The center staff and Board determined the best avenue for physical growth and secure facilities was to build a new facility and plans began for a new center.

On October 6, 1994, the shelter programs moved into a brand new facility at an undisclosed location.  The facility, while only partially completed, provided an attractive, comfortable and safe place for women and their children. Several years later, Sojourner Center embarked on a $4.7 million capital campaign to complete the campus, providing an additional 24 rooms and 4 apartments, tripling capacity to 120.

Today, Sojourner Center is one of the largest domestic violence shelters in the Southwestern United States.  The center’s residential program has grown to a facility with the capacity for 124 shelter beds and 32 transitional housing apartments.

In 2017, Sojourner Center became a subsidiary organization of Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JFCS) while maintaining its own name, brand, and 501 (c) (3) status.

At Sojourner Center, our goal is to develop best practices in the field of domestic violence work, and our team works every day to set the standards that make Sojourner Center a national leader in the field.