St. Petersburg Times: Inside Tampa domestic violence shelter, there's quite a storm

Article here. Excerpt:

'TAMPA — Joanne Lighter was hired at the Spring of Tampa Bay to position Florida's largest domestic violence shelter for the future. Tampa's beloved charity had churned through executives and interim executives for nearly 10 years. It needed new phones and computers, but also stability and a long-range plan.

Two years later, Lighter has left a trail of broken relationships and hurt feelings through Tampa's philanthropic community.

Donors have pulled support and fundraisers have been scrapped. The Spring's mission is "in peril," as the chairman of the board wrote to donors in April, and the shelter could soon have to turn victims away.

Lighter says she is doing the job the board gave her, and that change is hard.

Lighter's critics — including former Spring employees, volunteers and board members — say she is verbally abusive, has fired good people and is dragging down an important Tampa institution that provided emergency shelter for more than 2,000 domestic violence victims last year.'