Oct 15, 2026 | News
Posted October 15, 2026
We are so honored to share that Rainbow House Domestic Abuse Services has been awarded a $20,000 Domestic Violence Shelter Grant from the Mary Kay Ash Foundation.
This grant will go directly toward the day to day costs of keeping our shelter doors open, including utilities, heat, property insurance, food, household supplies, hygiene items, children’s needs, and facility maintenance. In a rural region where winter utility costs are substantial and philanthropic resources are limited, flexible operating support like this allows us to serve more survivors, more consistently, and with greater dignity.
For more than four decades, Rainbow House has been the sole provider of comprehensive domestic and family violence services in our community, a rural region spanning more than 3,300 square miles. We provide emergency shelter, crisis line response, safety planning, legal advocacy, children’s services, transitional support, and community prevention education, twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, at no cost to survivors.
“We’re enriching women’s lives by keeping our doors open twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, so a survivor anywhere across our 3,300 square miles of rural Wisconsin does not has to face her most frightening moment alone,” said Courtney Olson, Executive Director.
We are deeply grateful to the Mary Kay Ash Foundation for standing alongside survivors nationwide, and to the local Mary Kay independent sales force members whose letters of support and community partnership helped make this award possible.
To learn more about the Mary Kay Ash Foundation and its work to end domestic violence, visit marykayashfoundation.org.
Jul 21, 2026 | News
Know the Signs: Coercive Control in Everyday Life
When most people think of domestic abuse, they picture physical violence. But one of the most damaging and least recognized forms of abuse has nothing to do with hitting. It is called coercive control, and it affects lots of people right here in our communities.
Coercive control is a pattern of behavior an abusive partner uses to take away a person’s freedom and independence. It can include constant monitoring of a person’s phone, location, and daily activities; controlling all access to money; isolating someone from family and friends; dictating what a person wears, eats, or does; threatening children, pets, or immigration status; and relentless criticism designed to erode self-worth.
None of these behaviors leave a visible mark. But over time, they can be more devastating than a single act of physical violence, because they are designed to make a person feel that they have no choices left.
Why it matters
Survivors often tell us they did not realize what was happening to them was abuse. They may have felt confused, ashamed, or convinced that because they were never hit, their experience “didn’t count.” It does count. And it is against the values of every healthy relationship.
Recognizing coercive control is the first step toward getting help, and toward building communities where this kind of abuse is named, understood, and addressed.
What Wisconsin is doing about it
Advocates across Wisconsin are working to make coercive control visible in our laws, not just in our conversations. Jackie’s Law is a proposed piece of legislation that would formally recognize coercive control as a form of domestic abuse under Wisconsin statute, giving survivors stronger legal footing and giving courts a fuller picture of what abuse actually looks like.
You can learn more and add your voice at jackieslaw.org.
Rainbow House is here
If something in this article resonates with you, or with someone you care about, please reach out. Rainbow House provides confidential advocacy, safety planning, and support services to survivors in Marinette, Oconto, and Florence Counties. You do not have to have a bruise to deserve help.
Call: (715) 735-6656 Text: (906) 290-9081 24-hour confidential support
Jul 14, 2026 | News
Local High-Risk Teams have completed more than 1,000 lethality screens and connected more than 470 survivors to advocacy since 2019
MARINETTE, Wis. – In a June 23 interview on Oprah’s podcast, author Rachel Louise Snyder, whose bestselling book No Visible Bruises reshaped how Americans understand domestic violence, argued that the term itself falls short: what we are really talking about is intimate terrorism. The episode explored the risk factors for homicide and the hard truth that, for many women, the most dangerous place is inside their own home.
“Oprah’s podcast reaches tens of millions of people. Many of them will hear Rachel Snyder’s words and recognize someone they love. Some will recognize themselves,” said Courtney Olson, Executive Director of Rainbow House. “We want those people to know that help exists, and that it is closer than you think, right here in Marinette and Oconto Counties.”
For too long, communities have treated domestic violence homicide as a tragedy no one could have seen coming. Yet again and again, before a woman was killed, she had contact with police, courts, advocates, and health care providers, people who never had the chance to connect the dots. The truth is painful, but it is also hopeful: many domestic violence homicides are preceded by recognizable warning signs, including threats to kill, strangulation, stalking, access to firearms, and violence that escalates after a victim tries to leave. When communities are trained to recognize those signs and respond together, outcomes can change.
That is why Rainbow House, local law enforcement, the District Attorney’s Office, and Probation and Parole made the decision to strengthen, together, how the region responds to the most dangerous domestic violence cases. Through the local Domestic Violence High-Risk Teams, those agencies now sit at the same table and ask the same questions about each dangerous case: What is the risk? What can we do, together, right now? Referrals are based on the Lethality Assessment Program 2.0, an evidence-based screening model developed by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence. When a responding officer identifies a victim as high-risk, the victim is connected with a Rainbow House advocate on the spot for safety planning and support, rather than being left to find help alone.
Since launching this coordinated response in 2019, Marinette and Oconto Counties have completed more than 1,000 lethality screens, connected more than 470 survivors directly to advocacy services, and identified more than 250 cases involving strangulation, one of the strongest predictors of domestic violence homicide.
In one recent case, a survivor’s lethality screen scored 22 out of 26, placing her at the highest level of danger. When her case was staffed at a High-Risk Team meeting, the team provided her with security cameras, a personal alarm, and personal supplies, and ensured the District Attorney’s office had accurate and current contact information. Law enforcement was also able to document her internal and external injuries and obtain the medical release needed for her reconstructive surgery.
“We know this work saves lives. But it is not easy,” Olson said. “It requires every part of the system to acknowledge that no single agency can prevent domestic violence homicide alone. It requires humility, training, and political will, and it requires investment in the tools, protocols, and infrastructure communities need to act early and act together.”
Rainbow House is proud to serve as the statewide trainer for the Lethality Assessment in Wisconsin, helping communities across the state put this lifesaving tool into practice. More information is available at wisconsinlap.org.
Marinette and Oconto Counties are proud to be part of a growing national movement that believes the worst outcomes of domestic violence are not inevitable. They are predictable. They are preventable. And they demand a coordinated response.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, Rainbow House offers free, confidential help. Call the toll-free 24-hour crisis line at (800) 956-6656. In an emergency, call 911.
About Rainbow House
Rainbow House Domestic Abuse Services provides free, confidential support, advocacy, and emergency shelter to those affected by domestic violence in Marinette, Oconto, and Florence Counties, with co-advocacy in neighboring Menominee County, Michigan. Learn more at therainbowhouse.us.
