For Georgia Grodowitz, the satisfaction in doing her job comes from knowing she’s able to make a positive difference in someone’s life.

“It’s just seeing the change and the difference it makes,” she said. “The joy of seeing someone who comes in who has lost her self-esteem, who’s maybe injured emotionally and physically, and then to see later that they have completely changed and just become more self-assured, become alive again and feel safe again.”

Grodowitz is executive director of Haven House Family Shelter, a free shelter for victims of domestic abuse serving eight Central Mississippi counties. She is responsible for managing the operations of Haven House and its programs, but said her biggest responsibility is making sure the program is properly funded and grant money is spent according to the grant regulations.

She’s worked with Haven House for 16 years, starting as director of its children’s program, a case manager, outreach coordinator and then named director in September 2013 to replace Martha Scott “Scottie” Kiihnl, who died in June of that year.

“That was a busy year for me, but rewarding,” she said, adding that year she took office as president of the Vicksburg Kiwanis Club and Haven House director. She managed it with the help of the board and officers of the Kiwanis and the Haven House staff.

“The Kiwanis helped; they really did their part, and without them, I couldn’t have done it,” she said. “A lot of the Haven House staff has been at Haven House for a long time, so when I came on board as director, they knew what their job was and they did it. They did their job and let me try to figure this one out. I had a lot of support from other people.”

A native of Jackson, Grodowitz came to Vicksburg when her husband took a job with the then-Waterways Experiment Station. She taught at Porters Chapel for three years and spent two years with the Vicksburg Warren School District, teaching GED students. She worked briefly in the behavioral lab at Beechwood Elementary, and that led her to the children’s program at Haven House.

“I found out I really enjoyed working with children who had behavioral problems, that got me started,” she said. “When I saw the opening at Haven House, I applied, because so many children came in (to the school program) who had been in a domestic violence situation also had behavioral problems because of what had happened in the home.

“They witnessed violence. Some of them had trouble focusing and other problems such as violent behavior, name-calling and just that basic insecurity. That’s what really prompted me, because I really wanted to work with children.”

It was working with the children that developed her interest in also help adults deal with the problems of domestic abuse.

Although Haven House is a shelter for women and children, Grodowitz said, “We still serve men but we have to place them off-site, because we just don’t have shelter facilities for men — anyone who is a victim of domestic abuse, regardless of gender. Most of the people who come our shelter come because it’s too dangerous to stay with their spouse.”

Domestic violence, she said, “Is a little bit different from a husband and a wife who aren’t getting along and need counseling. It’s an entirely different situation.

“Most couples argue. Domestic violence is a repeated pattern of intimidation of control and power over somebody else, where someone feels they are afraid of that person or afraid to do certain things because of what the person will do to them. There is threatened physical violence, and also verbal not visible from the outside, but it definitely changes that person and how they function in the world.”

She said Haven House’s outreach program helps people who don’t need to come in the shelter or don’t want to go to it immediately. Caseworkers go to Warren County Justice Court and Vicksburg’s Municipal Court to meet with domestic abuse victims to help them navigate through the court system. She added people can call a crisis line and agree to meet with a case worker, who will see if the individual can benefit from the programs.

After two years as director, Grodowitz said she is finally settling into the position.

“There were so many changes the first year,” she said. “The third year will be good. The third time’s the charm, because things are settling down, and I feel pretty good about it. I have a good trained staff and we all work as a team.”