MCWEF fights growing domestic violence with impact funding
By Elizabeth Kereszturi
PR & Education Chair, Medina County Women's Endowment Fund
Each year, more than 1,000 people reach out to the Battered Women's Shelter of Summit and Medina Counties looking for a chance at a new life. Unfortunately, the problem of domestic violence is only growing. Last year alone, the shelter provided more than 5,200 shelter nights for people in crisis.
A life-transforming project
The Battered Women’s Shelter is increasing its impact in Medina County. New office space has been acquired to better serve victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Additional staff have been deployed to provide vital counseling services. Plans have been evaluated to renovate the shelter to increase residential capacity and provide a more respectable and effective environment. By the beginning of 2021, Medina County will have a state-of-the-art shelter for victims of domestic and sexual violence.
To support this critical, ongoing need, the Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund awarded a $10,000 impact grant to the Battered Women’s Shelter renovation in Medina County.
"The Battered Women’s Shelter would like to thank the Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund for being the first community organization to contribute to the renovation of our Medina County Battered Women’s Shelter happening in 2020," said Terri Heckman CEO of the Battered Women’s Shelter & Rape Crisis Center of Summit and Medina County. "The fund's $10,000 grant will help us provide more than 5,200 nights of safe shelter each year to survivors of domestic violence. It is only through the efforts of organizations like the Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund that our goal of hope and healing can truly stay at the forefront of our community."
More than a floor plan
Imagine a shelter where families can take time to be a family, to comfort each other and to begin to heal. Imagine a facility that is more than a shelter, but also a place that helps people get their lives back with counseling programs, job and computer training, a clothing bank, image enhancement services and so much more.
The Battered Women’s Shelter will allocate the impact grant funds towards renovating a family of four suite, dedicated to the Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund. The suite will provide families with a total of 1,460 safe nights per year.