Domestic violence shelter to open in 2013

Everything is in place to start building a local domestic violence shelter, but first some bureaucratic kinks need to be worked out.

The issue deals with the shelter’s location and the area’s FEMA-designated flood plain.

“Right now we’re in a holding pattern,” said Torri Anderson, Against Abuse, Inc. board member. “Even though you want it to be done now, I understand that getting all the different agencies in place and on the same page, that takes time.”

Against Abuse, Inc. is a Pinal County nonprofit charity organization focusing on educating people about the effects of domestic violence and assisting victims of abuse. In 1986, Against Abuse opened a women and children’s shelter in Casa Grande, the only one of its kind in western Pinal County.

Despite the delay on the Maricopa shelter, Against Abuse Executive Director Pat Griffen said, “I think we’re probably looking at breaking ground at the end of the year.”

“We’re ready to go vertical,” Anderson said. “All the underground work is done: the septic, the dirt foundation. The parking lot is done and all the stripes painted.”

The 7,600-square-foot shelter will have seven bedrooms and four to five bathrooms.

The rooms will be decorated and furnished by local charities that have “adopted” a room. One room has already been adopted by the Maricopa Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilts.

In addition to living amenities, the shelter will have a conference room, reception area and play area for children.

The shelter has been designed with future needs in mind.

“It can be divided into two halves in case it needs to be split into a separate children’s shelter,” Anderson said.

After the shelter is built, four transitional homes are planned for the site, which will function similarly to halfway houses.

Women and children will stay in the homes to gain independence once they complete a counseling program.

“It helps the counselors ensure that they are staying away from their abusers and staying drug and alcohol free, or whatever their individual goals are,” Anderson said.

Fundraising for the shelter began in 2006 with the first Seeds of Change Gala, now an annual event.