A place for hope
By Brian Cronin

ORLANDO Fla. – Students at VCC were educated about the incline in domestic violence when Robin Landwehr, a spokeswoman and shelter service manager for Harbor House; spoke on Tuesday, March 14 to students and faculty. Concerned about the growing population of domestic violence, spokeswoman Landwehr for Orlando’s Harbor House was invited to make a presentation about domestic violence by VCC Honor Society.

“As a nation, the abuse of women is on the decline; however, in our own backyard it is on the rise and Harbor House employees are there to answer the call.” Landwehr said, “Over 8,000 calls were made to police concerning domestic violence here in Orange County. “ Landwehr continued, “One in four women is slaves in their own home.”

Samantha Rogers, a student at Valencia East Campus said, “All people need more education on the topic of domestic violence. It is horrible to see my friend cry every night because of an abusive relationship.” She also said, “I wanted to see if I could get my friend some help and the meeting today gave me great information and places to go for help.”

Landwehr states their objective at Harbor House is to keep domestic violence victims and their children safe. “We have the best facilities in Orlando,” said Landwehr and it is a state certified institution. Harbor House does not discriminate, accepting anyone, in any situation. One of their missions is to educate the family about outreach programs that their staff has to offer each victim and their children.

The Orange County website on domestic violence indicates that, last year 3 million to 10 million children witnessed assaults against a parent by an intimate partner. It also states that most cases of abuse go unreported because of victim fears, including fear for their life.

Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) secretary, Robert A. Butterworth said, “This past year, Florida Legislature appropriated 28 million dollars to promote and support programs the Governor believes will affect the change necessary to hold offenders accountable and support local organizations to make a difference and end this terrible crime.” Violence against women is an epidemic problem for our society. Orange County has the largest reported cases of domestic violence in the state of Florida.


Harbor House is a safe haven for abused woman and children. Their rule states no one is allowed on property and this includes: police officers, DCF case workers, and family members without prior notice. The shelter is an 88 bed facility, but they have seen as many as 113 residents in one night in some cases. The shelter’s staff provides legal assistance, outreach programs, and education to the women who have bravely sought out assistance.

“Our job at Harbor House is to attend to the needs of the less fortunate.” Landwehr said. They do not allow visitors in order to protect each person’s privacy. “The reason for that is the abused is already in a weekend state; we do not want to complicate it anymore.”

Ashton Owens, a student at Valencia said, “I have seen it firsthand; what abuse does to a family and I am glad there are organizations like Harbor House to help those that are in need.”

Stephanie Parenti, the president for Amnesty International USA, Valencia East Campus said, “The numbers are staggering. Already this year we have seen an increase of 25 percent of cases reported for domestic violence compared with the same time last year.” Unfortunately, the data for domestic violence is skewed because reporting it is uncommon for both the victim and the abuser.

Bernice Henry, a student at Valencia said, “The place where a woman is supposed to feel safe, at home with her partner and children, sometimes she feels like a slave because of the abuse. We need more sessions like the one today to educate the youth so domestic violence stops once and for all.”

Landwehr also confirmed the hardship for the children in an abusive home. She said, “Few options are out there for the children. We at Harbor House want to make the transition from their home to Harbor House as painless as possible.” We bus them to their school of record if they want, keep them with their parent in the same room, and give them some psychological help with counselors that are on staff.”

The average stay in Harbor House according to Landwehr is six to eight weeks; however they have seen people stay longer and others who recover in no time. The future is bright for Harbor House they are building a school for the children, recruiting legal assistance volunteers for the woman, and offering jobs to former residents that cannot locate employment.