Shelter for women wins boost from federal grant
By JOHN SULLIVAN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Monday, December 13, 2004
Almost three years ago, Lanell Younger-Jackson and her four boys took refuge at The Shelter, a safe haven in Columbia for battered and abused women.
Now, thanks to a $247, 925 grant from the U.S. government, she will have a chance to help other victims such as herself get back on their feet.
Younger-Jackson will coordinate The Shelter’s new transitional-living program, which is made available largely through the federal grant procured with the help of U.S. Rep Kenny Hulshof, R-Columbia. The funds will cover the lease on three apartments, the operation of a day-care center and the operation of off-site offices for counseling and other Shelter services.
Younger-Jackson will oversee the casework of women as they go through the program. She has been working at The Shelter as a staff member for two years.
She credited the agency for helping her find the will to live without her former husband, the father of her four boys. "What I found here was a place to be empowered and a place to become what I wanted to become," she said.
Funds for the grant are part of the omnibus appropriations bill signed last week by President George W. Bush. Hulshof, who was on hand yesterday at the agency to announce the grant, said funding for The Shelter’s expansion is crucial at a time when Missouri safe havens are turning away some 5,000 domestic abuse victims a year.
"The most disturbing thing of all that has been mentioned is that these numbers have been increasing every year," he said of the incidence of domestic violence cases.
The congressman suggested that dealing with domestic violence requires addressing the problem’s impact on males as well as females. Nine out of 10 incarcerated men experienced domestic violence as children, he said, implying a link between the childhood experience and violence later in life.
Leigh Voltmer, The Shelter’s executive director, said part of the funding will go toward increased youth counseling efforts, primarily for boys who come from abusive families. Some funds will be used to train intervention therapists, she said.
The Shelter has space for 25 women and children, but the need for services is far greater, Voltmer said. The number of people - residents and nonresidents - served by her agency has more than doubled in the past five years, from 280 in 2000 to 735 projected for this year. "We’re seeing a lot more nonresidents, or women that need our help but don’t need to live in our shelter," she said.
Voltmer said the increase in need for services likely reflects growing awareness about the issue and increased reporting by victims, rather than an increase in the number of domestic violence cases. However, shifts in demographic trends - such as a growing number of rape cases involving 14- to 18-year-old girls - suggests the need for services will continue growing, she said.
Only 3 percent of the abuse victims in any given community seek the help of shelters, Voltmer said.