Anne Steytler & Ellen Berliner

Sherley & Ted Craig Award Honorees

Anne Steytler and Ellen Berliner, both peace activists fervently involved in the local community, founded Women’s Center & Shelter in 1974 as one of the first six domestic violence (DV) programs in the country. Though they had originally intended to create a drop-in social gathering space for women, their goal quickly changed to providing a safe haven after they realized that nearly half the women coming to their space were experiencing violence at home. DV had just started to gain wide recognition from the public and policymakers as a social ill, and their work was instrumental in shaping our social response to it. As survivors in the Pittsburgh area discovered WC&S as a safe place where they would be taken in, where they would not be shamed or blamed for being abused, and where their children could thrive, they came--and have never stopped coming. Now, 50 years later, what started with just three beds, three couches, three sleeping bags, and a crib has grown into a comprehensive program that serves more than 7,500 survivors and children each year through personalized programs and services designed to keep them safe.