IU student finds niche helping other women

One line repeats at the bottom of each page on Middle Way House's Web site: "Do you need to cover your tracks?" \nThe question reminds people that women victimized by domestic violence face serious danger and often need to hide that they are looking for help.\nThrough her volunteer work, junior Megan Haselschwerdt understands the danger more than many women her age. Since January, she has volunteered at Middle Way House, Bloomington's primary resource center for women victimized by domestic violence and sexual assault. Her experience so far has raised her awareness about those problems and has taught her ways to help the women who deal with them, she said. \nAnd the compassion to help them? She already had that one.\n"Megan's always been a servant and had a big compassion," her mother, Debbie Haselschwerdt, said from Marietta, Ga. "She's always been very sensitive to other people's feelings." \nThat sensitivity might stem from when Megan was only 3 and broke her neck in a head-on car collision, Debbie said. Megan had to wear a brace for her neck and back, which made her different from her friends. Even then, her attitude was, "I'm OK -- I just broke my neck," Debbie said. \nWhether it stemmed from that experience or not, Megan developed an extreme sensitivity for other people in hard situations and acted on it when she had the chance, such as when she arranged to help an autistic girl in her high school shop for clothes that would help her feel she fit in more. \nMegan brought that same compassion and drive to help from Marietta to Bloomington, and almost a year ago, she began looking for ways to get involved in the community. When she heard about Middle Way House, she decided to attend the full-day training session required for volunteers. \nShe started by tutoring children at The Rise! -- Middle Way's two-year housing program for women with children who have come through extremely violent situations. She then took additional training to work the 24-hour crisis line. \nSoon, Megan worked only at the crisis line, where she continued working during the first summer session and still works six hours a week. The position can be very stressful because she is the first contact for women whose lives might be in danger.\n"Every call is different," she said. "There are always calls that catch you off guard."\nSenior Hannah Gardi, a Middle Way staff member and volunteer coordinator, said Megan has handled more crisis calls than many volunteers do in such a short time, and she works well in those tense situations. \nIn one call Megan answered, the woman said she was not in a "safe place," meaning she was in immediate danger. Before Megan could talk to the woman more, though, someone pulled the phone's cord, Megan said. \nNo one ever heard back from the woman.\n"Stuff like that, it just hits you hard," Megan said. "Sometimes you are left not knowing and it makes it really hard. You just hope things work out for the best, but you don't know." \nWhen women do call to talk about domestic violence and sexual assault crimes, Megan and others who work the crisis line don't give advice, but instead offer resources and a listening ear. This method keeps volunteers from becoming overly stressed about giving wrong advice, and it embodies Middle Way's mission to empower women to make the best decisions for their situations, Gardi said. \n"The one thing that has been taken from them is their power, their control," she said, which is why it is important to give the women options and choices. \nMegan, also shouldering a full load of classes, pursuing a psychology major with a biology minor and preparing to attend graduate school in a year, will soon take what she has learned from working on the crisis line and move on to complete On-Scene Advocate training with Middle Way. The position requires the volunteer to wear a pager 15 hours each week, as part of a team making 24-hour on-call assistance possible for women who have suffered through violent situations. \nIn addition to her volunteer positions, as a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Megan said one of her goals is spreading Middle Way's message about stopping violence against women to the campus, particularly to the greek community. Out of about 350 volunteers -- mostly IU students -- Megan is the only regular volunteer in a sorority, and she said she wants to see others get involved in volunteering. \n"I like being at (Middle Way) House. I think it's a really great organization," she said. "All of the women are just incredible and give so much of their lives to help other people. I think that's admirable"