Life experiences help mold Sojourner House leader's understanding of clients' challenges

For De’netta Benjamin-Miller, the new executive director of Sojourner House, it wasn’t until life hit her with its ugliness that she was able to find the beauty in a calling she gets to answer every day.

“It was through therapy where I found myself,” she said.

Benjamin-Miller, 45, of Homewood said she was sexually assaulted during her last year of college at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.

She tried treatment for depression and other issues around the assault while in Ohio, but she said she gave up. She stayed and graduated with degrees in African studies and history.

When she came home to Pittsburgh, she said, she lost a friend to suicide, deepening her sadness and complicating the trauma she hadn’t properly navigated.

It was around that time she decided to get serious about her recovery. She sought therapy and eventually enrolled in the University of Pittsburgh.

“And that’s all she wrote,” she said, adding she graduated from Pitt with a master’s degree in social work.

She became a licensed clinical social worker and began her career with a gig at Familylinks. She stayed there for eight years, until 2010. That’s when she accepted a position at Bethlehem Haven as its clinical director for homeless services for women.

She then went back to Familylinks in 2015 to run its behavioral health services program while also running her own practice as a clinician who provided free services to people without insurance.

By the time Sojourner House hired Benjamin-Miller to be its executive director in October 2019, she had 18 years of experience in a field that helped her get her own life on track.

She gets it; she’s been there.

“It’s OK to need therapy,” she said.

So as the nearly 30-year-old organization’s new leader, she wants her role to be that of bringing “stability” – a word she said means the new sustainability.

Sojourner House, based in East Liberty, has offered inpatient treatment services to women and mothers struggling with drug and alcohol addiction since 1991.

In 2004, the organization launched its sister project called Sojourner House Motivation, Opportunities, Mentoring and Spirituality (MOMS). It provides permanent housing to women and their children.

The organization now includes permanent and transitional properties scattered throughout Allegheny County, houses 14 women and their children and operates under a $3.1 million budget.

Benjamin-Miller replaced Joann Cyganovich, who retired June 2019 after 12 years on the job.

Cyganovich has been credited by the organization with creating MOMS Green, a garden and park and overseeing Sojourner’s acquisition of Sankofa House and Open Arms, transitional residences in Homewood.

Benjamin-Miller said she wants to keep building upon the services Sojourner offers.

“I want to treat entire families,” she said. “Men are part of families. Mothers have sons. It’s important to me to help anybody impacted by addiction.”

It’s a service MOMS began in 2015 – but she hopes to expand it.

She said Sojourner’s inpatient treatment service should also include men with custody of their children. Also, if both parents are struggling with addiction, they should both be able to seek care without fear of losing custody of the children, Benjamin-Miller said.

The coronavirus pandemic put Benjamin-Miller’s leadership to the test and put other organizational goals on hold.

Priorities shifted to offering the women and children in Sojourner housing the care they need to withstand challenges through uncertain times.

When Pennsylvania was shut down because of the pandemic, Sojourner ran out of cleaning supplies. Benjamin-Miller said the organization had to rely on donations from the community to make sure all clients and staff had hand sanitizer and other cleaning materials during the shutdown.

But she said the biggest challenge was telling her clients they couldn’t visit with family.

“Family is a big part of recovery. My father has 10 years of sobriety, so I get it,” Benjamin-Miller said.

She made sure her staff of 34 had a sense of job security by giving them small bonuses in April and May. The organization has not laid off any employees, she said. Benjamin-Miller also wanted to make sure her care staff didn’t get burned out during the stressful period where they were tasked with “comforting clients when we were struggling to adjust as well.”

Susan Orr, Sojourner’s director of development, said Benjamin-Miller – whom she called a “direct” and “honest” leader – rose to the occasion. As a 15-year Sojourner veteran, Orr, 54, knows how to spot a standout, she said.

“This work is not for the faint of heart,” Orr said. “And (Benjamin-Miller) realizes that.”

The hard work paid off on June 25, when the organization received a $110,000 grant from the Allegheny County Department of Human Services that Benjamin-Miller said will help her make steps toward offering services to women, children and men.

“We got everything we wanted to do,” Benjamin-Miller said.

But as a nonprofit, fundraising is a key component to continuing its work, she said. The organization’s annual fundraiser, the annual Victorian Tea, had to be rescheduled and is now being held virtually – a first.

The 16^th annual Victorian Tea will take place online from 12:30 to 2 p.m. on Aug. 16. Registration is free. Visit the event’s website for more information.