Hopeful Horizons also is a partner in the 14th Circuit Victims Services Center, housed in the Solicitor’s Office headquarters in Okatie, where several organizations assist victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes against vulnerable people.

It’s precisely the type of work Dubrowski planned to do after earning a bachelor’s in women’s studies from Cornell. However, it’s not exactly the place she always imagined doing it. Durbrowski’s parents divorced when she was young, and through much of her childhood, she spent the school year in Minneapolis and summers in Cheyenne, Wy. She much preferred the bustle of the big city to the wide horizons and sparse populations of the Far West.

Once she left home for college, Dubrowski stayed in Mt. Vernon to work in the Women’s Center, rather than return to Cheyenne during summer breaks. And once out of college, she took a job working for a domestic-violence shelter in Denver, choosing that job over a higher-paying opportunity working at a library in the Mile High City.

By the end of her first year there in 2000, she had moved from athe night-shift to the day-shift, then to a position as shelter director. In her spare time, Dubrowski earned a master’s in nonprofit management from Regis University. After a few years, though, she decided to seek out a new challenge in a new part of the country. Without securing a job first, she moved into an apartment in the Old South complex in southern Beaufort County and began sending resumes to organizations in Georgia and both Carolinas. She didn’t have to range far for a job, however. She contacted Citizens Opposed to Domestic Abuse about volunteer opportunities.

“They told me, ‘That’s great, but we have your resume and we have an open counseling position. Would you be interested in interviewing for that?’ ” Dubrowski recalled. “I thought, ‘Well, I need a job, and I like the work, so …’ ” Much as with her time in Denver, Dubrowski ascended the organizational chart quickly — within a year, she was promoted to coordinator of victim services. When CODA executive director Bonnie Lawrence retired in 2007, Dubrowski was named her replacement and oversaw the establishment of CODA’s domestic violence shelter.

The organization’s mission expanded to include children’s advocacy and rape crisis when it merged with another nonprofit group, Hope Haven, to become Hopeful Horizons in 2017. Dubrowski was the chief operating officer of the new group and became chief executive officer when Shauw Chin Capps moved to the Atlanta area two years later.

“We knew about the co-occurrence of domestic violence with child abuse and sexual assault with domestic violence,” Dubrowski said. “So we thought (CODA and Hope Haven) could more holistically serve the community by joining forces. We were merging to expand services. There were some efficiencies created, but the real aim was to amplify our voice in the community.”

Though Beaufort is in many respects much more like Cheyenne than Minneapolis, Dubrowski has lived here longer than anywhere else in her life. “If you would have told me as a teenager I would wind up in a town this size …,” Dubrowski said with a smile. “Cheyenne’s population at the time was 50,000, which is much bigger than Beaufort. But here you have things to do, and Savannah and Charleston are a short drive. I like to kayak and bike, and there are all sorts of opportunities here. Being from out West, you have to drive forever to get anywhere. Here, you can drive just a few hours and be somewhere really cool.”

Dubrowski said Beaufort’s charm and Hopeful Horizon’s lengthy to-do list will keep her here for a while. She enjoys the problem-solving required to keep a nonprofit organization financially stable and the challenge of working through a pandemic to deliver services. During Dubrowski’s tenure as CEO, Hopeful Horizons has ventured into telehealth services for victims and opened a satellite center in Walterboro. Working with the Medical University of South Carolina, Hopeful Horizons also hired a nurse in late 2021 to provide non-acute care to child victims of sexual assault.

Other projects on the front burner include working with the 14th Circuit Victims Services Center to continue development of a program to train sexual assault nurse examiners, and helping the region provide more transitional and affordable housing for women escaping dangerous living situations. Erin Hall, Hopeful Horizons’ chief development officer, has no doubt that, with Dubrowski’s leadership, Hopeful Horizons will continue to make inroads in these areas.

“Kristin is a wonderful leader,” said Hall, who has worked for Hopeful Horizons since Dubrowski hired her in 2018. “I think part of what makes her so effective is her quiet demeanor. She’s very passionate about helping victims. She’s also a thinker. She’s not going to react immediately to a challenge. She’s going to take time to think about what is going to be best for the community or the victim’s family. “That’s always foremost in her mind, and that’s what I like most about working for her.”