LAKE COUNTY ? Plans to build a new shelter for victims of domestic violence are going forward in a new direction, according to Lake Family Resource Center Executive Director Gloria Flaherty.
The question is whether LFRC should build a new shelter from the ground up or buy an existing building, according to 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.
“One silver lining of the price of real estate plummeting is that there may be some opportunities for us to purchase something already constructed, and that might be less expensive for us than it would be to build, and that would affect our timeline as well. We are looking at our options and talking with our state funders,” Flaherty said.
The current shelter can house up to 18 women and children. Domestic Violence Program Manager Rae Eby-Carl estimated that the shelter was over its capacity twice in 2006. Flaherty said monthly rent LFRC pays for the current shelter site and moving five times during the last 10 years has cost money that could be better spent providing services.
The LFRC announced its intention to build a new shelter in 2006, when the shelter housed an average of 11 women and children every night. The number has since risen to an average of 18 women and children every night.
“We had more at the shelter over the holidays than we had anticipated ? if that”s an indication that there will be more people than normal at the shelter this year, I don”t know,” Flaherty said.
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 was to be built. Flaherty said LFRC is still considering the lease.
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. 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.
