Dottie Bailey, the executive director of SafeHouse, was the featured speaker at the Shelby Chamber’s 24th annual prayer breakfast on Nov. 23.
The prayer breakfast has been held annually since 1996 and offers business people and community leaders the opportunity to come together for fellowship, while celebrating and giving thanks for their blessings.
Bailey has been an advocate for women and children for over 20 years. She has spent much of her career focused on issues surrounding domestic and sexual violence, child abuse, mental health, trauma and homelesness; and she specializes in areas of child trauma, complex trauma, trauma focused interventions and trauma informed care.
She began working with nonprofits in 1999, primarily with single moms living in housing communities that were in need of assistance.
“I was doing social work and didn't even know it,” Bailey said. “It just fueled this passion I had to work with people and help people. I always knew I wanted to be a helper and make a difference.”
She joined SafeHouse in May 2013. The nonproft organization that provides critical domestic and sexual violence response, prevention and intervention programs for the communities of Shelby, Coosa, Clay, and Chilton counties.
Over the years, Bailey, now a licensed clinical social worker leading the team at SafeHouse, has learned how to turn her crises into opportunities. She shared with the audience her journey from victim to survivor and how that fuels her commitment for serving others and also the power that prayer has had in her life.
While her childhood was one of sadness, loss and trauma, Bailey learned how to overcome adversity and challenges. She grew up in a religious community that some may describe as brainwashing or a cult. She remembers as a child thinking God was angry with her and decided to leave that environment as soon as she could.
“It wasn't my beliefs, it was someone else's beliefs,” Bailey said. “I made a decision to leave home and I did. There were some nudges and speed bumps along the way. One day, I hit a wall. The way I was doing it wasn't working and I was miserable. I found myself at a crossroads where I was alone and I had a choice to make on what I was going to do with my life. I cried out, I gave up and just surrendered. In that moment nothing changed, but everything changed and my life hasn't been the same since.”
Bailey said that her hope is that prayer can be one of the tools that can change people’s lives.
“When I think about where I was and the trauma and things I went through, they were preparing me for my career today. If it wasn't for the power of prayer and the people that believed and invested into me and my life I wouldn't be here.”
She and her husband are raising two of their grandchildren. She completed her doctorate research dissertation during the pandemic while also homeschooling the children and running Safe House. She knows that she could not do anything on her own.
Bailey said she found herself on a journey of discovery that she didn't even realize and does not know what the future holds.
“My story begins with childhood trauma and victimization and survival followed by years of seeking and finding my own way to a life committed to advocacy for others who have experienced difficult times,” she said. “Things are changing personally and professionally for me in 2022. I am really excited and feel like this is exactly what's supposed to happen.”
