photo by: Contributed photo/The Willow Domestic Violence Center

The Willow Domestic Violence Center has launched a capital campaign to help raise money to purchase this building to serve as a second shelter that could house 20 additional people.

The Willow Domestic Violence Center launched a capital campaign on Monday to raise money for the purchase of a second property and to repair and update its current location.

The center, which serves survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking for Douglas, Franklin and Jefferson counties, can hold 28 people, but because of January flooding that damaged the center’s basement, it can currently only serve 16.

“Even prior to the flood, the shelter regularly turned away over 30 survivors each month due to capacity restraints,” the center said in a Monday press release. “With shelter services being an issue across the community, the organization realized changes are necessary.”

The Willow Domestic Violence Center hopes to raise $700,000 by October with its capital campaign.

“The Willow has to grow forward so that we can effectively support individuals as they transform their lives,” Executive Director Megan Stuke said in the press release.

Will Averill, director of communications for the center, said the organization hopes to purchase the building for the second shelter within the next three months and start serving people there in the fall. The new building would provide space for an additional 20 people and would be close to the existing building, Averill said, so that all survivors can benefit from the updates to the current location. These will include a landscaping rebuild in the backyard, which would create a play area for children and a “relaxation garden” for survivors.

The money from the capital campaign would also go to renovate some rooms and repair the basement in the current building.

Averill said the center already has $225,000 for its capital campaign, which has largely come from a combination of capital reserves and a donation from the Winter Family Foundation.

The center also announced in its press release that it will move from a 30-day emergency stay to a 90-day stay.

“Research shows that increasing the length of stay greatly increases the ability of survivors to successfully escape abusive situations,” the center said in its release. “The 90-day stay allows for trauma-informed case management and the time survivors and their families need to stabilize and have long term success.”

Averill said that survivors may transfer from one building to another, and that the new building would function as a long-term stay site.

The center said it provided 6,999 nights of shelter last year to survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking in Douglas, Franklin and Jefferson Counties.

Donations can be made through the center’s website, at willowdvcenter.networkforgood.com.