Mitchell memorialized by city

Want to help? Victims of domestic violence in Erie, Huron and Ottawa counties can reach out to Safe Harbour Domestic Violence Shelter by calling 419-626-2200. The hotline is open 24/7. People can make donations to Safe Harbour, a nonprofit, by: • Writing a check or sending a money order to Safe Harbour Domestic Violence Shelter / PO Box 2616 / Sandusky, OH 44870 • Calling 419-626-2200 • Visiting safeharbourshelter.org/donations-fundraisers SANDUSKY — Sandusky city commissioners honored a woman who dedicated her entire life to protecting victims and empowering them on their individual roads to recovery. During Monday's public meeting, ex officio mayor Dick Brady read aloud and then presented a proclamation to survivors of Linda Mitchell. Mitchell, the longtime leader and face of Safe Harbour Domestic Violence Shelter in Sandusky, died on May 19. The lifelong city resident was 78. Family members said she passed away a week after being diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Here is Brady's speech in full: It is my pleasure to read into the record a proclamation for Linda Mitchell, the director of Safe Harbour, who passed away a few weeks ago. The impact that this woman had on so many lives and, in turn, on our community will never be able to be accurately measured. She steadfastly shunned any publicity for herself and for the organization as anonymity is so critical to their mission. We offer this proclamation to honor her contributions and to raise the awareness of the need in our society for the services they offer. As much as this is a tribute to Linda Mitchell's life, we hope that she would approve of our effort to make our residents aware of the impact Safe Harbour continues to have on our community. Her life's work Mitchell joined Safe Harbour, a nonprofit, in 1991 and became its director in 2000. Before this, she worked at Ace Motor Transport Co. from 1976 to 1991, leaving there as its president. She remained with Safe Harbour in this capacity up until her dying days. Along with others, Mitchell built up Safe Harbour as the area's only certified facility to directly protect, advocate for and empower victims, a majority being women. It serves Erie, Huron and Ottawa counties. Those working for the agency collaborate with law enforcement, prosecutors, children services, frontline health care workers and others, connecting victims — including those who have been verbally and physically abused, assaulted, raped or otherwise attacked — with resources needed on their initial paths toward healing. "Linda believed in the power of advocacy and spent a big portion of her time educating community stakeholders and providers on the issues of domestic violence," according to a joint statement Mitchell's two daughters, Marci Corwin and Mary Morshed, sent to the Register. Victims can receive services and support, both emotional and physical, from Safe Harbour at no cost. The shelter component provides clients and their children with temporary housing and essentials, like food, as they transition from a fearful situation to, ideally, a fearless one. Its location is concealed from the general public. "All of the people who come through our doors, they are broken," Mitchell said in a 2021 interview with the Register. "Their self-esteem is zero. No one has to put up with abuse or being controlled. No one needs to live like that." As a nonprofit, and on a limited budget, Safe Harbour doesn't turn anyone in need away, no matter how dire a situation might be. It was one of several guiding principles Mitchell lived by, never shunning someone seeking aid. Through various means — answering crisis calls, sheltering victims, providing legal advocacy, offering support groups, counseling, educating community members and more — Mitchell personally helped, quite literally, thousands of victims during their weakest, most vulnerable periods. Even at times, without regard for her personal safety, she would enter life-threatening situations to free victims from horrific situations and out of harm's way. Her intervention resulted in giving those in despair, at their lowest points and untrusting of many, some faith in humankind. "Our goal is for them to get to a point where they believe in themselves again and have some self-esteem and realize their full potential," Mitchell said in the 2021 interview. "They just got lost along the way and forgot who they are. What we offer here is to help people understand and regain a sense of independence and happiness. We provide unconditional support." A family woman at heart, she always put victims' needs ahead of her own, her daughters said. Her relatives not only understood but respected and encouraged that decision. Mitchell missed many personal obligations and skipped out on vacations so she could work nights, weekends, holidays or, quite literally, 24/7 whenever someone needed her help, colleagues said. And Mitchell always gave those people her utmost, undivided attention. "She felt that everyone deserved love and relationships free from violence," her daughters said. "She had the gift of reality and helping others be real. She didn't tell people what they wanted to hear but what they needed to hear."