Town Clock, based in New Brunswick, Providing Safe Haven for Domestic Violence Survivors

“Beatrics” had been traumatized by police stations and emergency rooms. The domestic abuse survivor was desperately searching for a safe haven when she arrived at Town Clock three years ago. She felt a rush of emotions – joy, relief, even apprehension and disbelief – as she was handed the keys to a fully furnished apartment.

“This was my first apartment ever,” “Beatrics” said. “I never had a place that was mine. I remember walking in and feeling, ‘This is my apartment. I can do anything I want. I can decorate or whatever.’ It was freedom, but also security because I was living inside Town Clock.”

Town Clock has been providing permanent, affordable, safe housing for women who are survivors of intimate partner physical, emotional, and financial abuse, along with their children, since opening in 2010.

In that time, the 501(c)(3) organization has served 22 women and 10 children in Dina’s Dwellings, Town Clock’s first complete housing project that reconfigured the sanctuary of the First Reformed Church on Bayard Street to create 10 apartments. The Barbara Littman House, which 150 years ago served as the sexton’s residence, has been recently renovated to serve as a three-bedroom home for a woman and her children.

Town Clock is planning a series of fundraisers as October is recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month across a nation that is home to fewer than 40 permanent housing facilities for survivors. It will be partnering with city restaurants and area retailers to raise money for its case management program, various workshops and therapeutic counseling services and even its scholarship program.

It will all culminate with Nov. 1’s Being Brave, an annual fundraising event at the Hyatt Regency on Albany Street that recognizes supporters and advocates, and celebrates women who bravely pursue safety, wholeness, and affordable housing.

“The women who come here have been homeless and are homeless when they come,” Executive Director Rev. Susan Kramer-Mills said. “They have no place else to go. Some have been couch surfing. Some have been living in their cars for six months to a year. Some have literally been brought to us from the FBI because their cases are so brutal.”

And they all arrive with at least traces of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression, she said. They typically don’t have much of a support system, considering that half of them are immigrants from far-flung locales such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America.

That’s why Town Clock’s ancillary services are vital. 

Kramer-Mills said the case management services help them apply for social security and fill out SNAP benefit forms and more. An on-site therapeutic counselor meets with the women regularly and is available on an emergency basis.

The scholarship program has helped provide each woman with a laptop or desktop computer – sometimes new, sometimes refurbished.

It has also been awarded to help pay for college tuition, GED fees, and licenses or certifications in various programs.

“We have paid for driving lessons because a lot of our women don’t know how to drive and you need that to get to a job,” Kramer-Mills. “We have also paid for uniforms. They’re very expensive.”

She said the ultimate goal for these women is independence.

For women like “Beatrics,” that sometimes means two steps forward, one step back. She’s found a steady job at a restaurant on George Street. She has set up a home studio where she paints with acrylics, a quiet endeavor she calls “my therapy.” She said she had to learn to trust men again, and forming friendships with some of the members of the New Brunswick Police Department have helped.

But moving out and moving on aren’t in her immediate plans. She isn’t ready to leave the safety of Town Clock.

“There are some points when I’m back to level zero,” “Beatrics” said. “Something, when I’m still scared to go out at night. Or when I go out at night or when I come home from work I’m scared and I ask one of the (police) officers to escort me home.”

So, fundraising – along with donations and grant money - helps Town Clock continue to help women such as “Beatrics.”

Liz Barrood, a member of Town Clock’s Board of Trustees and driving force behind the organization’s fundraising efforts, has set up several dine-to-donate opportunities in October.

On Oct. 7, Honeygrow on College Avenue will donate a portion of its proceeds to Town Clock. Similarly, Cinnaholic on New Street in Metuchen will donate a portion of proceeds collected from diners who bring the Town Clock flyer. On Oct. 19, Destination Dogs on Paterson Street will donate a portion of proceeds from diners from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Macy’s in Menlo Park will feature Town Clock in its round-up checkout program from Oct. 16-31.

This year’s Being Brave gala will include everything from a Thomas Sweet chocolate tasting to tarot card readings to caricature artists to spray tattoos to photo booths. Among those who will be recognized is Mildred Torres, director of the Family Justice Center in Middlesex County.

The program will include a pretaped video from Highland Park’s Karen Uyar, whose daughter, Yasemin, was killed by her boyfriend in 2021.

“If you could have seen me two years back when I was scared to go out of my apartment alone,” “Beatrics” said. “I was scared to walk outside, to go off with groceries. Town Clock has done so much for me. They have been wonderful to me.”

Story & Photo Provided By: Chuck O'Donnell