SABRA Sanctuary's founder comes back as director, 30 years later

When Susan Youngblood walked back through the doors of SABRA Sanctuary earlier this year, she did not expect to be running the agency she helped build more than three decades ago.  

But as she tells it, the call to return was something she could not ignore. 

Youngblood, a longtime victim advocate and one of the founding leaders of SABRA Sanctuary, has stepped in as director at a time when the agency is rebuilding after funding shortages, leadership turnover and the loss of its original shelter building during the 2023 tornado. Despite the challenges, she says the mission remains unchanged. 

“We are here to help victims of family violence have a safe place to go when home is not safe anymore,” Youngblood said. “It is a safe stop so they can catch their breath and get enough support to move forward.” 

Youngblood’s path to this work began long before SABRA Sanctuary existed. Though she jokingly calls herself a transplant, she has lived in Dallas County since seventh grade. After marrying young and moving around the country with her first husband, she settled in Tennessee, attended paralegal school, and began working in the Nashville District Attorney’s Office. 

She expected to work in corporate law, but an internship changed everything. “I absolutely fell in love with working with victims,” she said. “I knew that was where the law was meant for me to be.” 

Nashville was then on the forefront of the victims' rights movement, and Youngblood became part of that momentum. She recalls how, in earlier decades, victims were often overlooked. “We were focused on civil rights and the rights of the accused, and rightfully so,” she said. “But the rights of crime victims got lost in the shuffle.” 

Her work eventually brought her back to Alabama, where she helped establish SABRA Sanctuary in 1990 and later founded the Child Advocacy Center. She also served as program director for the Community Justice Program in the Southern District of Alabama, where she helped create a nationally recognized initiative that trained law enforcement and domestic violence shelters on firearm restrictions for convicted abusers. 

Youngblood stepped away from SABRA years ago to allow the organization to grow independently. But recent instability brought calls for her return. District Attorney Robert Turner Jr. urged her to apply for the director position, and after prayer and reflection, she agreed. 

“I just felt like the Lord was speaking to me,” she said. “I did not know how I was going to do it, but it was the thing to do.” 

Since taking the helm, Youngblood has focused on rebuilding the agency’s structure, board and community partnerships. The new shelter facility is fully operational, and families are already being placed in safe housing. “Just this week we got a woman and her children a new home,” she said. “Another woman received new accommodations. We are getting back on track.” 

Still, the need is overwhelming. In the past week alone, SABRA Sanctuary had to turn away six women with children due to limited space. Youngblood is working to expand capacity and strengthen services across the six counties the agency serves: Dallas, Wilcox, Perry, Greene, Marengo and Sumter. 

She is also restoring support programs that help survivors rebuild their lives. “Women in abusive situations learn inappropriate coping skills,” she said. “Unless they have something to validate the new things they are learning, it is easy to fall back into old patterns. We want to give them the opportunity to move forward with a better life.” 

Youngblood also wants the public to understand why victims often stay or return to abusive partners. She says it can take seven to 12 attempts before a victim is able to leave for good, and the reasons are complex. 

“There is a gripping fear,” she said. “People are at their greatest risk of death or serious injury when they are leaving. Children are another reason. Sometimes a parent stays to protect the children. Finances are another. Religion. Love. Community standing. There are many valid reasons.” 

She stresses that domestic abuse is not always obvious from the outside. “There are domestic abusers who are the nicest people in the world,” she said. “People would never suspect it. They do not beat up other people. They do it to control their home.” 

SABRA Sanctuary refers abusers who are willing to change to specialized batterers treatment programs, which Youngblood says are very different from anger management. “It has to be a gut level change,” she said. “Until a person is ready to say, I admit I have a problem, nothing will change.” 

For now, Youngblood is focused on rebuilding SABRA Sanctuary into the strong, collaborative agency it once was. “It is not a me thing,” she said. “It is about working with people and with the community. That is what made SABRA successful in the early days, and that is what will make it successful again.” 

Anyone in need of help can call the SABRA Crisis Line at 334-874-8711, a number that has remained the same since the sanctuary opened in 1990. 

Youngblood says she is committed to keeping the conversation going. “There is always more to talk about,” she said. “This work never ends.”