Even with their large bank of volunteers, says Langbein, “It’s never enough. We have over 200 women and children on a waiting list. We would love to expand our services.” Among her plans? To become multilingual, to expand their job program, to create a school inside the shelter and to better educate the community, including programs reaching out to deaf women and school children. Still, despite 15 years of service to the cause and helping countless women, Langbein can never rest. “I lie awake at night thinking about it,” she says.

Visit www.genesisshelter.org for resources for battered women and to learn more about ways to contribute to Genesis. If you or someone you know is the victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-SAFE.

Hear from a Volunteer
When Allison Conway, 29, first heard Jan Langbein speak four years ago, she was truly inspired. “I had never been exposed to any domestic violence, so I felt like I was in a real bubble,” she admits. “Some of the statistics she had made me think that maybe I knew people [who were being battered] and I wanted to be able to help people.” As a busy marketing professional and a graduate student, Conway says, “My free time is my scarcest resource, so it says a lot about Genesis that I’m always anxious to spend time there.”

And she does more than just spend time there. She’s worked with children, put in time at the thrift store, served on committees (such as the annual 5K run and the holiday gift drop off) and represented Genesis at expos and events. It is at these events that she sees the real impact of Genesis: “Women will come up to us all day and say how much they love Genesis, how it helped their friend, their sister, even them,” she says.