Richland County Domestic Violence Shelter director retires

Kathy Ezawa has retired after 15 years as the executive director of the Richland County Domestic Violence Shelter and judging by the turnout at her retirement celebration, she made a lot of friends.

Ezawa thanked everyone for working to help survivors of domestic violence, saying Richland County is a good place to live.

"I'm definitely going to miss working with survivors," she said at the domestic violence shelter's annex at Friday's ceremony. "I'm going to miss the opportunities that we can provide survivors and of course I love working with the community. The community has been fantastic. We couldn't do this work without our community. Mansfield is truly a great place to live."

Ezawa honored with 'Hometown Hero' award

Modern Woodmen lauded Ezawa with a "Hometown Hero" award for her years of dedication to the Richland County Domestic Violence Shelter. Modern Woodmen also brought her a donation of $2,500 for the agency and a $100 donation for Ezawa to give to her favorite charity.

Becky Hergatt, board member at the shelter, presented Ezawa with an award to be hung in the nonprofit's new annex. It reads, "Dedicated June 30, 2023, For her commitment to providing Shelter from the Storm. To all survivors of domestic and sexual violence, as executive director, November 2007 to June 2023."

Ezawa was surrounded by colleagues, board members, community leaders, members of the Richland County Prosecutor's Office, friends and family Friday as she said farewell to a career she has loved.

There was food, cake, balloons, decorations, cards and presents, and a few tears shed.

The News Journal archives are filled with stories about Ezawa and domestic violence awareness ceremonies, not to mention the many fundraising efforts she spearheaded to benefit the shelter, including the "Great Sleep Out Against Domestic Violence."

How Ezawa came to her role

Ezawa said she suffered in an abusive marriage for 13 years. After getting out of her marriage, she faced the challenge of raising three children without an income. However, she was determined to work, raise her children and go to school, where she earned a degree in social work — but she didn’t stop there.

Ezawa believed she needed a competitive edge in finding a good job, so she enrolled at Case Western Reserve University and received her master's degree in social administration. She has made it her mission in life to assist others who have suffered in a violent relationship. She received the AK Steel "Steel Magnolia" award in 2018 for her efforts to help women.

Ezawa's farewell speech

She said the years she has spent working at the shelter are some of the best years of her life.

Ezawa, who replaced executive director Georgia Taylor, thanked the board members in attendance for their hard work and support.

Ezawa thanked her family members who always told her she could do it at times when she thought she couldn't and for being her sounding board.

Ezawa thanked Richland County Prosecutor Jodie Schumacher and her staff in attendance for the work they do.

"We do this work together. Thank you for championing the cause. From your lens it's different than ours. The work that you do is different than ours but we work together to support survivors and that's what I appreciate so much," she said.

Ezawa lauded as 'Gold Star' nonprofit executive

Dan Varn, executive director of United Way of Richland County, said Ezawa was such a force in the organization and in the community.

"It's really there for people in their most vulnerable moments and to have someone there like Kathy who is so strong ... how many people were affected by the hours she put in? It has to be countless hours. As a nonprofit executive, she was the gold standard in the sense of every aspect of the organization was first rate because of the effort she put in and the staff she empowered to facilitate all parts of the organization," Varn said.

A new director has not yet been named.

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Kathy Ezawa said she will miss working at domestic violence shelter