Hope House presented Steve Jones, Paul Davis, and Dave Brown a picture collage that traces the shelter's history as a thank you for many years of support.

Celebrating More than a Quarter Century of Collaboration

In August 1982, Mayor Barbara Potts led a group of concerned Independence, Missouri, leaders and citizens to help victims of domestic violence. The RLDS Church (now Community of Christ) offered a rent-free, four-bedroom house that could shelter 15 women and children. At midnight January 1, 1983, Hope House was born. Less than five hours later, a woman and her children walked through the doors.

Now, more than 26 years later, women and children still walk through Hope House’s doors. But they don’t enter a four-bedroom home. Hope House today is the largest domestic-violence shelter in Missouri with secure locations in Independence and Lee’s Summit. Though Hope House sits in eastern Jackson County, its clients come from throughout the Kansas City area. Its programming and hotline help more than 10,000 battered women and children each year.

Those numbers are up dramatically from its first year, when Hope House sheltered 570 women and 240 children. Just last month, Hope House sheltered 133 women, 82 children, and answered more than 379 hotline calls.

In May 2002, Community of Christ donated land where the Lee’s Summit branch of the shelter now sits, housing 104 women and children daily. “It’s a very sad realization that our shelters are at capacity 365 days a year,” said Mary Anne Metheny, chief executive officer.

Hope House’s ministries have touched many church members. “During my first visit to Hope House, seeing firsthand mothers and children in such dire circumstances filled my heart with compassion,” said Norman Swails, Community of Christ retired presiding bishop. “I have been happy to have been able to assist Hope House over the years in raising funds for its new facilities and making church properties available for its effective and caring ministries.”

Lysle Weeks, a former Independence City Council member who served as the first Hope House board president, remembers meeting with Potts, a church member, in 1982 to talk about the need. Today, both serve on the board of directors’ advisory committee. “When calls came in and women needed a place to stay, the door was always open no matter how full the shelter was,” Weeks remembered. “While domestic violence is more readily talked about (now), the need is still enormous.”

Metheny credits Potts, Weeks, and the church for Hope House’s outreach. “Without the vision of Barbara and Lysle, Hope House would not exist today. And without the generosity of the Community of Christ church, I’m not sure where we would be,” Metheny said.

“I’m proud to have been there in the beginning,” Potts said, “and I’m hopeful that through the continued efforts of Hope House that there will be an end to domestic violence. The collaborative efforts of the community and the Community of Christ church are the reasons for the success of Hope House today.”

—Lee Marlin reporting