Liberty House of Albany holds delayed commemoration of four decades of service

ALBANY — For Liberty House of Albany, the organization’s 40th anniversary was going to be a big celebration, including a rebranding campaign to reflect the four decades of advocacy and sheltering of domestic violence victims.

Then COVID-19 struck the community, and those plans were delayed as the domestic violence shelter shifted to trying to protect victims in the time of a pandemic and during a time when the need for services was increasing.

During that time, social distancing meant less people could stay at the shelter, so it was a time of scrambling to meet the needs of those seeking services.

But after a three-year delay, the rebranding starts this week, with a new logo and revamped website for the 43-year-old organization.

“We’re starting that on Monday,” Liberty House Executive Director Diane Rogers said. “On Monday, we’ll launch our updated website.”

Liberty House was incorporated on Aug. 5, 1981, through the work and advocacy of founder Mary Fogarty, with the mission of providing services of support for domestic violence victims and their children.

The new logo incorporates a tree, symbolizing life, wisdom, strength, protection and abundance, and the journey of victims who make the step to leave an abusive relationship. The falling leaves of a tree symbolize shedding the trauma and pain, with the support victims receive symbolized by the deepening and strengthening of the roots.

“Forty years ago, logos weren’t a big thing,” Rogers said. “We wanted a logo with some symbolism behind it, so we started a conversation. We wanted a logo that when people see it, they think of us and also think of the symbolism and connection to the work we’re doing for victims.”

The shelter serves 17 counties in southwest Georgia. In addition to operating the 21-bed shelter, Liberty House operates a 24-hour crisis line, advocates for victims in court, and provides social service and legal advocacy.

“We have an outreach advocacy for those twho are victims that don’t need the shelter services,” Rogers said. “We have support services, support groups for individuals and children’s support groups.”

Staff members also make presentations in the 17 counties to discuss domestic violence, particularly with students, to reduce future incidents.

With the pandemic starting to fade into the rearview mirror, operations have returned mostly to normal, Rogers said. So the time is right for the long-awaited celebration.

“COVID just did a lot to make us change our plans,” she said. “We had talked for years about doing this for our 40th anniversary. That just got put on the back-burner due to our response to COVID.

“It took us a while to get back to full capacity for our shelter. Kind of like everything else in the community, it’s back to a new normal. Everything has pretty much returned to pre-COVID with the introduction of new technology in use that wasn’t in use before.”

In September, Liberty House will hold its 10th annual Pearls and Possibilities fundraising gala with the theme “Hear My Roar,” referring to the Roaring 1920s.

“October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month,” Rogers said. “We will have some community events for education and remembering those lives lost in 2023.”

To visit Liberty House online, go to http://www.libertyhouseofalbany.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/libertyhouseofalbany/.

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