-
.
BEAUMONT, TEXAS – Family Services of Southeast Texas held their CAPITAL CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF at the home of Bryan and Shelley Blevins. A “Raising the Curtain” lunch was held to show off drawings and renderings of the new domestic violence and sexual assault shelter that is being constructed on Concord Street in Beaumont. Family Services received half of its funding goal by applying for ARPA funds granted to Jefferson County. Local law enforcement, judges, and foundation trustees were present at the event to see the progress of the new shelter build. The agency continues on its path to raise a total of $10 million to complete the shelter build.
The domestic violence and sexual assault shelter, affectionately dubbed the “Women & Children’s Shelter” over the years, serves survivors from 6 Texas counties, providing shelter, case management, legal advocacy, and other resources to help abused families reach independence from their abuser.
Joe Fisher (Argent Trust) presented Family Services with a check for $250,000 from the Mildred Yount Manion Charitable Foundation. “Ms. Manion did not have children of her own,” stated Fisher, “but I know she would be proud that her legacy is helping women and children to find safety and independence from violence.”
HISTORY: In August 2017, the Women & Children’s Shelter was flooded by Hurricane Harvey and all residents had to be relocated to a safe place. Cleanup was slow because many of the staff members had experienced severe loss in their own homes. Subsequently, asbestos was discovered, which caused the shelter to be vacated until remediation could be done. Family Services then used its transitional housing facility (apartments) to house women and children until the shelter repairs could be completed. This decision more than halved our capacity to serve domestic violence survivors, and greatly diminished the transitional housing capabilities of the shelter, but allowed the shelter to remain open.
The shelter was fully reopened in May 2019. Three months later, the shelter was flooded again by Tropical Storm Imelda. At that time, the board voted to only repair the 17 apartments on campus to be used as shelter, and to look for a place outside of the flood zone. Since then, Family Services has purchased property on Concord Street in Beaumont, Texas, and construction has begun on the new shelter.
Executive Director, Deborah Tomov, states “We want to share our journey with the community because this is a community project.” Family Services provides services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in six Texas counties and has the only shelter for approximately a 100-mile radius. Tomov further stated: “If Family Services was not here, these battered women and children would be homeless, without any help to rebuild their lives or reach independence from their abuser.”
Family Services helps approximately 2000 survivors a year with safe-house shelter, food, clothing, childcare items (bottles, diapers, car seats, etc.) necessary medical care, case management, counseling, legal advocacy, Crime Victim’s Assistance, life skills classes, therapeutic and non-therapeutic groups, and assistance in finding employment and affordable housing. Family Services also has a 24 hour manned hotline 409-832-7575 or 1-800-621-8882, and provides hospital accompaniment and accompaniment to law enforcement interviews for victims of sexual assault. Sexual assault survivors also have access to full services through the Non-Residential Program even if they do not need to live at the shelter.
Family Services also provides a Domestic Violence Class and Battering Intervention Prevention Program for men and women.
Statistically speaking:
- More than 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and more than 1 in 4 men (28.5%) in the U.S. have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime
- An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year
- 85% of domestic violence victims are women.
- Most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the police
- The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health services
- Victims of intimate partner violence lost almost 8 million days of paid work because of the violence perpetrated against them. This loss is the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs and almost 5.6 million days of household productivity as a result of violence
- Domestic violence-related police calls have been found to constitute the single largest category of calls received by police, accounting for 15 to more than 50 percent of all calls
- Almost one-third of female homicide victims that are reported in police records are killed by an intimate partner
- In 70-80% of intimate partner homicides, no matter which partner was killed, the man physically abused the woman before the murder
- Intimate partner violence results in more than 18.5 million mental health care visits each year
- 30% to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the household
- Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults
- Children who were raised in Domestic Violence, once they reach adulthood, are six times more likely to commit suicide, 50% more likely to be addicted to drugs and alcohol and 74 times more likely to commit a violent crime.
If you or a member of your family are in a domestic violence situation, help is only a call away 24 hours a day at the National Domestic Violence hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or Family Services of SETX: 409-832-7575 or 1-800-621-8882.