As Eileen Hudon was forging her own path of healing from an abusive marriage in the late 1960s and 70s, she found community and purpose in helping other women do the same. At that time, domestic violence was rarely spoken about in public. It was considered private, something handled in the family, not part of the domain of public safety.

Hudon recalled gathering other Indigenous women with similar experiences. 

“They sat with their legs crossed and their arms crossed, and they were not going to talk to one another,” said Hudon. 

The ice broke when they talked about how Native American boarding schools had impacted their lives. That shared history of forced assimilation helped them open up and start their own healing journeys.

Hudon was a part of a burgeoning movement of women working to shift the conversation about domestic violence from a private matter to a public one. They came from all backgrounds, united by the belief that freedom from violence should not stop at your front door.

A group of these women launched a divorce information line in 1972 to give legal information to those leaving their marriages. Many callers described what we now call domestic violence. The calls became the foundation for Women’s Advocates, the nation’s first domestic violence shelter for victim-survivors and their children. They also coalesced into a broader movement to redefine safety in the home as a right, not a privilege. 

This legacy takes on renewed significance each October during Domestic Violence Awareness Month—a time when communities across the country come together to acknowledge the ongoing fight to end intimate partner violence and uplift the voices of survivors. It’s also an opportunity to recognize the vital work of organizations like Women’s Advocates, as well as the critical support provided behind the scenes by our Office of Justice Programs (OJP), which funds initiatives that expand access to safety, justice and healing. 

More than half a century later after the divorce information line opened, Women’s Advocates still stands. What began as a humble single-family home in St. Paul’s Summit Hill neighborhood now spans three renovated historic houses connected by artwork-lined hallways. Each night about 20 women and 30 children find safety in the communal living arrangement, but the organization is working to reflect an even broader, more inclusive vision of safety. 

“We have survivors who have all kinds of identities. What we were hearing from survivors was that people from the queer community or male folks in their lives who had tried to access services could not find them,” Hudon said.

With funding from OJP coupled with a separate push to raise capital, renovations began that will create 24 new apartment-style units designed to house individuals and families of all genders and abilities. The building will include programming for youth and adults and will even be able to accommodate pets, which can be a deal-breaker for those seeking help.

Long-term funders like OJP, which has supported Women’s Advocates for over 30 years, were critical to helping the organization respond to the changing needs of the community. 

“When we fund a program, we hope to provide stable housing for years,” said Cecilia Miller, grants unit director at OJP. “It takes time for communities to know that victim service programming is available and start to utilize it.”

Miller explained OJP designed its support to make this type of evolution possible. The division provides operational dollars to domestic abuse programs, which is often the hardest type of funding to secure. The dollars pay for necessities like staffing, food and 24-hour crisis response.

“We really want our grantees to be well connected to stakeholders in the community to generate community support and partnership, which helps sustain programs and create recognition of their importance in the community,” Miller said.

In less than a generation, whispered conversations among women have grown into a public, statewide commitment to safety and healing. 

In that same timeframe, Hudon has seen a similar evolution. From those organizing days in the 1970s, she went on to co-found influential organizations like Mending the Sacred Hoop and Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition. Hudon is still active in the community and has seen one of her sons continue in her footsteps, now focused on healing trauma in men, identified as a root cause of domestic violence.  

The conversation around domestic violence has changed, ensuring that it will not fall silent.  

If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, call the Minnesota Day One line at 866-223-1111.