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ADVOCATES TRY FOR NEW, $2M SHELTER

By AmyJo Brown/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, May 15, 2008 9:57 AM CDT

The board of Pine Bluff’s only domestic violence shelter agreed last week to move forward with plans to build a new $2 million building near downtown, and to kick off fundraising for the $400,000 which will need to be raised locally.

“We are all very passionate about this cause,” Karen Palmer, executive director of the nonprofit Committee Against Spouse Abuse Inc., told members of the Pine Bluff City Council Tuesday.

She said CASA, which operates the shelter, has applied for a $2 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. It will need to raise 20 percent in matching funds from the community in the next few months in order to secure the grant, she said.

She and about half a dozen other CASA board members asked the city to provide $75,000 of that amount.

“I believe it will bring a facility to this city that would be admirable,” said board member Jesse Kearney.

Palmer said plans are being drawn for the new building using a planning grant the Reynolds Foundation provided a year ago. She said CASA is now looking for land to build on near downtown, where it can stay close to the city’s police department, the county courthouse and the city’s bus routes.

The new shelter would be about 10,000 square feet and would replace the current nine-bedroom house that is more than 100 years old and in need of major repairs, Palmer said.

The new building will also help keep up with demand, she said. The shelter, whose address The Commercial agreed not to publish, serves about 200 to 250 people annually, a number that has been increasing. More than 100 women were turned away last year for lack of space, Palmer said.

“We stay full most of the year, and there are times we cannot house all the victims that come through Pine Bluff,” she said, in an interview after the presentation to the council members. “We hope with the new space we won’t ever have to turn a woman away. It’s really heart-wrenching to say we don’t have a bed.”

She said the current shelter has enough beds for 35 women and children. The new building is being designed to house 50 to 60 people, she said. It will also have more security features, including cameras at every entrance and a reception area protected by bullet-proof glass.

“I think this is a good venture,” said Alderman Irene Holcomb. “Certainly the city would want to help.”

She and the other two members of the council’s Community Development Committee, Janice L. Roberts and Thelma Walker, delayed committing the city to the funding request, however.

They voted to explore ways the cash-strapped city could provide the $75,000.

“We’ll consider the project and move forward diligently,” said Roberts, the chairman of the committee.

Palmer said the $400,000 in matching funds, if raised, will be deposited into an endowment account and used for repairs and maintenance of the building after it is built. She said that without the matching funds CASA loses its chance to get the $2 million grant.

“It’s an insurance policy for the Reynolds Foundation,” a way to ensure the building will be taken care of in the long-term after it is built, she said.

Minnie Berry, a CASA board member, said she was feeling good about CASA’s prospects.

“I know right now there is a money shortage everywhere, but I just feel like we will be able to raise (the money),” she said. “We have a very dedicated board of directors.”

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