About Shepherd's Rest Ministries
Shepherd's Rest is a family violence crisis center, located in Paulding County, GA which provides a 24-hour crisis line, emergency housing, food, clothing, domestic violence counseling, legal advocacy, a weekly therapy support group, and resource referrals to Paulding and surrounding counties.
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Many ingredients go together to provide each of these services to the community, but the policy for each service is basically the same, to provide safe housing to any alleged victim of domestic violence in need of emergency shelter and unbiased services to the community-at-large without regard to race, religion, social or economic background.
Our goal is to ensure that victims/clients obtain safety, stability, and can eventually move toward maximum self-sufficiency. All services are offered free-of-charge to the client.
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After providing services for 25 years now, God is moving Shepherd’s Rest Ministries, Inc. into a new realm of services for these battered women and children, all in an effort to give healing, restoration, and regeneration to a hurting and dying world.
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The Story of Shepherd's Rest Ministries
Shepherd’s Rest Ministries, Inc. was founded by Dr. Kathryn D. Melton in June of 1997. With a handful of volunteers and approximately $1,700 raised at a gospel singing fundraiser, Dr. Melton opened the shelter to its first two families in December 1997. The battered women’s shelter has since housed over 5,000 women and children.
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Prior to establishing the shelter, Dr. Melton was the Founder and Executive Director of Dallas Family Counseling Center, Inc. in Dallas, GA, where she provided individual, group and family counseling, specializing in issues of domestic violence, sexual abuse recovery, & anxiety disorder.
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She concentrated her counseling efforts on healing and restoration, and felt God’s calling upon her life to open a battered women’s shelter after witnessing the results of domestic violence in her own sister’s life.
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The first shelter was a “handyman’s special” rental house located in Hiram, GA. With the carpentry talents of her husband and a few others, along with generous donations of furniture and supplies from the community-at-large, the facility was quickly turned into a functioning shelter. With God’s provision, by the year 2000, Shepherd’s Rest Ministries, Inc. purchased its own facility, able to house up to 19 people. (paid in full!)
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Over the years, the umbrella of Shepherd's Rest Ministries' Safe House and Services for Battered Women & Children has expanded to include three vital areas of service:
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Emergency / transitional housing for female victims of domestic abuse and their children
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Legal Advocacy assisting victims of domestic violence in obtaining Temporary Protection Orders against their abusers through the Paulding County Court System
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a weekly Women's Enrichment Therapy Support Group that helps women throughout the community with coping, healing, and family violence issues.
Our Mission
To provide a safe-haven from domestic violence to facilitate emotional, mental, and physical stability and healing, along with personal growth and responsibility, as we network with other community service providers to ensure that all their specific needs are met.