My Sister's Place (MSP)is a shelter for battered women and their children. Our mission is as follows: MSP is an interactive community committed to eradicating domestic violence. We provide safe, confidential shelter; programs; education; and advocacy for battered women and their children. Our goal is to empower women to take control of their own lives.

MSP began in 1976 as a project of the Women's Legal Defense Fund (WLDF) and their Task Force on Abused Women. The WLDF saw that there was a pressing need on the part of many women to break free from abusive situations, and that these women needed more than individual legal assistance to resolve their problems. With this knowledge in mind, the Task Force on Abused Women formed. Realizing that social change would be slow to come and that many abused women needed immediate action, the Task Force’s primary objective was to raise funds for a confidential shelter for battered women and their children. In addition, they focused on providing services and support to battered women and on educating professionals and the general public about domestic violence.

In April of 1978, the Task Force, together with a group of committed volunteers, began operating a telephone counseling and referral service for battered women. Shortly thereafter, in January of 1979, the Task Force achieved its goal and My Sister’s Place Shelter opened its doors. Since then, we at MSP have been carrying out the mission of our founders. We have had a long history of effective intervention with women facing the complex legal, financial, and emotional problems resulting from domestic violence. Through 20 years of community education we have also significantly heightened awareness about domestic violence and have worked hard to dispel the dangerous myths that exist about the dynamics of family violence. Since our doors opened, we have sheltered more than 1,700 women and 2,000 children, helped more than 50,000 hotline callers, and educated thousands of people in the community about family violence and its prevention. The word is getting out, but much still remains to be done.