The Daily Dispatch

After nearly 12 years of serving those in domestic crises, Lynette Meyer will move on from Someplace Safe in Breckenridge. Her final day was Oct. 5 and she and her partner, Bruce Oren, are in the process of moving to Alexandria, Va.

Meyer moved to Breckenridge at age 13 with her parents. She began volunteering at the Someplace Safe as an intern while attending Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Before joining Someplace Safe, Meyer had worked as a child protection officer and a community support specialist for Wilkin County, and a girls dormitory counselor at Circle of Nations School in Wahpeton

Her lucky day came Friday, Feb. 13, 1998, when she joined Someplace Safe as the Breckenridge manager.

"It was very important," Meyer said. "I became an employee instead of a volunteer." Advocate jobs in the Eighth Judicial District, which includes Wilkin County, are hard to come by. "They don't open up often," she added.

In the 12 years Meyer worked for Someplace Safe, two murders were results of domestic violence — Aidan Greybull, a 19-month-old boy, and Diane Wessels.

"That's a lot for this area," she said.

The hardest part of her job was realizing there are deaths like this in Wilkin County due to domestic violence.

"I wonder if it will ever be eradicated," she said. "The goal is to provide enough education to the public."

The most rewarding part of being an advocate against domestic violence is seeing the victims become survivors, Meyer said. Many people she's helped have walked into her office with a new haircut, clothes, a car, their own apartment.

"They're doing these things for themselves," she said. "They have a lighter step. It's the small steps like getting a job, going back to college that make my job great."

Meyer said the whole job is a fulfilling process. Seeing some victims go from being scared to being courageous enough to publicly share their stories is inspiring to her.

"Knowing the whole community can read the story, find out who they are, that takes a lot of courage," she said.

Both Meyer's sons, Justin and Jared, live in Washington, D.C., so moving to Alexandria, Va., is a good move for her, she said. She added she's going to try to find a job working with homeless women and children.

"I keep being pulled back to domestic violence, which also deals with homeless women and children," she said. "If you have a passion for it, it stays in your blood."

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