Refuge House Video Series
Championing the Rights of Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sex Trafficking, Sexual Assault: A Community Works Together in Effective Advocacy
In order of appearance on screen
Top row, left to right
Beth N. Rom-Rymer, Ph.D.
Founding Director, Victim Witness Assistance Unit, 2nd Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, Florida (1977-1979)
Co-Founder, First Director, Board of Directors, Refuge House (1978-1979)
Shan Pompey, RCSWI, MSW
Assistant Director, Refuge House (2005-Present)
Meg Baldwin, JD
Former Executive Director, Refuge House (2005-2020)
Bottom row, left to right
Lauren Tomberlin
Victim Advocate, Victim Witness Assistance Unit, 2nd Judicial Circuit, Florida (2003 - Present)
Jack Campbell
State Attorney, 2nd Judicial Circuit, Florida (2017- Present)
Emily Mitchem
Executive Director, Refuge House (2020-Present)
A brief first-hand description of Dr. Beth Rom-Rymer’s work on the Ted Bundy case.
A conversation about how Dr. Rom-Rymer began the Victim-Witness Unit in the Stare Attorney’s Office, with the current State Attorney, Jack Campbell, talking about his perspective, more than 40 years after Dr. Rom-Rymer had opened the Unit.
Meg Baldwin, JD, the immediate past Executive Director of Refuge House, in conversation with Dr. Rom-Rymer about the importance that psychological research on trauma has on the practice of trauma work with individuals who have been deeply scarred by egregious domestic violence.
Meg, Jack, and Beth discuss the overwhelming number of sex abuse/sex trafficking cases with which Refuge House works, today. There is shared astonishment that, even in the relatively small community of Tallahassee, there are very serious and very dramatic cases of sexual abuse, that, if it weren’t for organizations like Refuge House and the State’Attorney’s Victim Witness Assistance Unit, the crime victims’ voices would not be heard and the victims, themselves, would not have access to treatment services.
Shan Pompey, RCSWI, MSW, Assistant Director of Refuge House, talks with Meg and Beth about her expertise as a counselor and advocate for survivors of domestic violence.
Shan, Meg, and Beth talk about the importance of Refuge House staff’s longevity at Refuge House because clients, while no longer living at Refuge House, continue to rely on trusted Refuge House staff for support throughout the year, and particularly during the holiday season.
Lauren Tomberlin, Victim Advocate for the Victim Witness Assistance Unit, talks about her important and far-reaching work in the rural northern Florida counties of Gadsden and Liberty.
Emily Mitchem, the current Refuge House Executive Director, talks about the focus of her work and her vision for her tenure at Refuge House.
The survivors are the most important part of the victim advocacy system, Meg Baldwin emphasizes. With great courage and boldness, they push through their experiences to give voice to their trauma so that others can be helped to leave their trauma behind. Dr. Rom-Rymer affirms that all of those who work in the victim witness advocacy system have “heart” and an enduring commitment to make positive changes in the lives of those who have been victimized.