Specific Pioneering Contributions
In 1978 Kathryn Coumanis was a Child Welfare Supervisor for the Mobile County Department of Human Resources in Mobile, Alabama. She received a call from an extremely distraught client who stated “My husband called and is getting out of jail. He said he is coming home to kill me and our children! Please help me!” Kathryn reports the only thing she could offer at that time was to place the lady’s children in foster care. She could not find one agency or service to help her. There were no resources, including laws or law enforcement officials who would help. The following months that call haunted her. She was driving to a meeting one day and heard Dr. Joyce Brothers on the radio discussing “shelters for battered women” in England. Kathryn immediately began the research to see if anyone or any agency had the desire to fill this need in Alabama. No agency responded, saying their missions and goals did not support this service.
Kathryn then turned to her civic organization, Daughters of Penelope. The Daughters of Penelope is an international organization made up mostly of women of Greek heritage. This small group of women from the Thais Chapter in Mobile, Alabama, with $26.00 is their bank account, voted to start Penelope House in the Fall of 1978. Through Kathryn’s guidance, leadership, and social work skills, Penelope House opened its doors on March 19, 1979!!! It was a small 3-bedroom house donated by a Methodist Church and they had a small CETA grant. Many volunteered, meals were donated by the local Greek restaurants, and the community immediately responded!
Penelope House was the first shelter in Alabama and the fifth shelter in the country! Kathryn immediately began to educate and communicate the need for victims and their children for protection laws and safe places throughout Alabama! She was a founding member of the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She paved the way and led the Coalition to begin to educate & communicate throughout the state for creation of Protection Laws for victims. She also helped ensure the passage of the first Domestic Violence Laws in Alabama. Kathryn worked tirelessly in seeing these laws were passed! These laws finally detailed Domestic Violence as a Crime. Law enforcement could then arrest perpetrators and inform victims of safety plans and shelters.
Presently there are 15 shelter programs in Alabama. Following the model Penelope House and Kathryn created, these shelters (including Penelope House) not only provide safety and protection but also provide outreach services, 24hr crisis line services, and victim advocate services in court. Kathryn has worked diligently to see these services continue and are still provided today. Penelope has served over 12,000+ in shelter victims and children. This does not include the 4,000+ victims served in court each year or the ones educated through professional or community outreach services.
Currently, Kathryn is an Ambassador for Penelope House and an active social worker in the Mobile Community. She is 89 years young and licensed as a LCSW in the state of Alabama! Kathryn is a TRUE PIONEER! She led the way to help victims and their children to safety and protection!
Career Highlights
Following her graduation from St. Basil’s Academy in June 1958, Kathryn began her career as a teacher of Greek language. She then attended Spring Hill College graduating in Elementary Education in 1961and after two years of teaching, joined the Mobile County Department of Human Resources. She then attended and graduated with an MSW from Tulane University in 1970. While at DHR, Kathryn became an Instructor, Department of Sociology, Mobile College. Kathryn also held a position as an Adjunct Professor – Sociology, Spring Hill College, and University of South Alabama. Kathryn later joined the State Office of Alabama DHR as an Adult Services Program Supervisor.
While working at the State Office of Alabama DHR, Kathryn founded Penelope House in 1979. Kathryn initially served on the Board of Directors of Penelope House and later assumed the position of Executive Director.
Kathryn pursued her Ed.D from The University of Alabama and graduated in August 1988. She travelled to Tuscaloosa for classes and did so while working full time, serving Penelope House, and raising her family as wife and mother.
An Activist and advocate at heart, Kathryn served in many Professional and Community Activities, such as, Alabama Conference on Social Work, Mobile County Domestic Violence Task Force, Council Against Family Violence, and served many years with the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Kathryn has been and still is active in the Daughters of Penelope at a national, regional, and local level. She has also been a member of the Penelope Foundation Board and District Lodge.
Kathryn was appointed to the Council Against Domestic Violence for the First Congressional District in Alabama. She was a founding member of the Children’s Task Force in Mobile to help establish the Child Advocacy Center in Mobile and a founding member for the Mobile Aids initiative.
Kathryn also served as a member of the Alabama Baby Coalition, to reduce the high infant mortally rate in the State of Alabama. She served on the first county boards of the Washinton County and Mobile County Fatality Review boards that examined domestic violence deaths to enable to expand education regarding DV and help protect victims in the State of Alabama.
She presently serves as an Ambassador for Penelope House where she coordinated the Past Board Presidents Council, assists with fundraisers, and makes public appearances.
Biographical Data
Kathryn was the only child of Tony and Annie Calogrides and born in Mobile, Alabama. She was the first in her extended family to attend college. She attended St. Basil’s Academy in New York and earned an associate’s degree in Greek Language and Religion. She later attended Spring Hill College, Tulane University, and the University of Alabama. She was married to her late husband Nick Coumanis for over 60 years. She has two children, Christ who is an attorney in Mobile, Alabama and Tonie Ann who is a licensed social worker (LMSW) in Mobile. She has four grandchildren, Trey, Ana Kathryn, Nick, and Nicholas, who are all enrolled in college. Kathryn has been an active member of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, where she has attended her whole life and where she met her husband who moved to Mobile from Patmos, Greece. Kathryn enjoys travelling, cooking, baking, and spending time with her family and friends.
Significant Recognition and Awards
Kathryn has received many accolades and honors. One of her first accolades in October 1979 was the Outstanding Career Woman of Mobile award. The next month, she received the Community Service Woman’s Award from the Gayfer’s Career Club.
In the 1980’s Kathryn received numerous awards such as in 1984, First Lady of Mobile and Outstanding Woman and Community Leader in the City of Mobile. In 1985 Kathryn was honored by The Daughters of Penelope as The Penelope of The Year.
In the 1990’s Kathryn was awarded the M.O.Beal Scroll of Merit for Services to Battered Women, as well as the Penelope House Outstanding Service Award for Outstanding Service to Crime Victims. A Declaration was made by Mobile Mayor Mike Dow and the Mobile County Commission for “Dr. Kathryn Coumanis Day” while Mobile Bay Magazine featured her as one of the 100 Leading Movers and Shakers in Alabama. In 1999, Kathryn received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Mobile Area YWCA Women of Achievement Conference.
Kathryn was honored to receive the Award for Outstanding Service to Homeless Women and Children by The Homeless Coalition pf Mobile and Lifetime Achievement Award by Daughters of Penelope- District One. The Alabama Coalition Against Domestic recognized her as an Advocate Member of The Year for being a founder and active member to end domestic violence in Alabama. The Museum of Mobile, also known as “Mobile’s History Museum,” selected Kathryn as a 2011 Herstory Honoree to recognize her contributions to the social, civic, economic, and cultural heritage of the Gulf Coast Region.
Nationally, Kathryn received U.S. Justice Department Service Award for Outstanding Service to Crime Victims and the Salute to Women of 1998 Award by Daughters of Penelope in Washington, D.C. Kathryn was featured in an article in University of Alabama Alumni Magazine as “Making a Difference” which is distributed internationally to University of Alabama Alumni.
Significant Publications
Kathryn Coumanis published You Can’t Beat an Alabama Woman in October 2010. This book has been used in many social work classrooms and outreach sessions to educate social workers on the macro approach to developing a nonprofit and for communities to understand and learn about how to help victims better.