LAKE COUNTY — The need for a new shelter for victims of domestic violence is more apparent today than it was when Lake Family Resource Center announced its intention to build one in 2006, according to LFRC Executive Director Gloria Flaherty.
The LFRC is a non-profit organization devoted to helping victims of domestic violence. It operates Freedom House, the only battered women”s shelter in the county. In October 2006, the shelter housed an average of 11 women and children every night, according to Flaherty. Two years later, the number has risen to an average of 18 women and children every night.
“It has gone dramatically up. I don”t think domestic violence is increasing in Lake County, but I think that people are becoming more aware of the services available to them, and there is most certainly a need for these services,” Flaherty said.
Freedom House, operated by LFRC, is the only battered women”s shelter in Lake County. It houses up to 18 women and children. Domestic Violence Program Manager Rae Eby-Carl said the shelter doesn”t turn people away. She estimated in 2006 that the shelter was over its capacity twice a year.
“This shelter has been rented for the last 10 years and we have had to move five times, and that”s tremendous expense. That takes resources that could be better used to serve women and children,” Flaherty said.
Of the $3 million needed to build a new shelter, approximately $1.2 million has been raised. That includes a $1 million forgivable loan from the state Emergency Housing Assistance Program.
The LFRC signed a 50-year lease with Sutter Lakeside for approximately 1.4 acres across Highway 29 from the California Highway Patrol office on Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville, where the new shelter will be built. Flaherty said LFRC hopes to break ground in a year.
“Lots of people from the community are stepping up to help us,” Flaherty said.
From business providing materials at cost or for a small fee to the Barbara La Forge Memorial fund to raise money for the shelter, Flaherty said she sees evidence that the community knows how important the shelter is to the women it serves.
While shelter is one of the services LFRC provides that is in the highest demand, the agency also provides legal help, transportation, counseling and childcare, among other services. The agency”s crisis hotline can be reached 24/7 at (888) 485-7733.
October is domestic violence awareness month. Eby-Carl said 202 domestic violence victims walked in to the agency”s offices for help in 2007. The crisis hotline fielded 282 calls, and the shelter housed 107 women and 61 children.
One in four women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. According to statistics provided by the LFRC, a woman leaves her abusive partner an average of eight times before leaving permanently. Approximately half of the women who come to Freedom House have children.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
