Crossroads nears fund-raising goal for new shelter

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Work is underway on a new facility for Crossroads Safehouse, the shelter for abused women and their children in Larimer County.

The new shelter, located in east Fort Collins, could be ready for occupancy as soon as January. However, Crossroads has more fund-raising to do. The total project will cost about $5.5 million, and the nonprofit agency still needs about a half-million dollars in donations and grants.

"We know times are tough, but we hope very much that individuals and businesses in our county will help us raise the last remaining funds we need," said executive director Vicki Lutz.

Some foundations that have awarded challenge grants to Crossroads have established fund-raising deadlines. The first of those deadlines is Oct. 22, set by the Boettcher Foundation. If fund-raising is not complete by that date, Crossroads could lose Boettcher's promised $50,000 grant.

Domestic violence is a problem that has not gone away; in fact, it has grown along with the county's population. According to Lutz, a record 436 women and children stayed at the shelter in 2009, and the organization had to convert some office space into bedrooms to handle the crunch. Even then, Crossroads turned away one in four crisis callers – a total of 138 people.

In 2009, more than 2,600 people benefited from Crossroads' many services. Besides the shelter, those include transitional housing, free legal services, access to medical care, job training, a children's program and help with immigration issues. There is an extensive volunteer program. Staff members also counsel callers who may be concerned about a neighbor or friend and need advice about how to talk with that person.

Crossroads serves all of Larimer County, plus some victims beyond the county's borders. In 2009, 67 percent of safehouse residents were from Fort Collins, while 3 percent were from Wellington. In Wellington, Lutz noted, the number of domestic violence victims is on the rise.

Converted building

The new safehouse is being created from a former nursing home, Columbine East. Columbine Health Systems owner Bob Wilson donated the building to Crossroads in 2008. That gift was worth $2.5 million, or nearly half the project cost. Other large donations have come from Fort Collins, with a grant of $350,000 and waivers worth nearly $67,000; the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, which donated more than $418,000 to the project; and the Gates Foundation with a $250,000 grant.

The building has now been entirely gutted, and a design more suitable for the new occupants will soon provide an entirely new look to the building.

The change doesn't stop with a new building. The new shelter will bear the same name as the old, but it will have a completely new personality. "We traveled around the country, stole good ideas where we found them and learned from some bad ones," said Lutz.

The most notable change is that the new shelter will have a publicly known location. Currently, the address of the Crossroads shelter is kept secret to protect the safety of its clients. At the new facility, the public will be welcome to visit, and meeting rooms will be available for public use.

Crossroads expects to gain advantages from this new exposure, Lutz pointed out. People who get to know the shelter can spread the word about its amenities and services, potentially helping more victims of domestic violence to find the services they need.

To balance public visibility with client safety, Crossroads will have a high-tech security system, Lutz said.

The new shelter will be vastly larger than the present one. Currently, Crossroads has about 9,000 square feet of space, including two city-owned homes and rented office space. The new facility will have nearly 29,000 square feet, more than tripling the present area. However, the building is being remodeled with green building techniques, so it will be much more energy-efficient than the current buildings. As a result, the agency expects annual building operation costs to increase only about $17,000.

The current shelter has 29 beds, while the new one will have 104. Lutz anticipates adding two and one-half employee positions if all beds are full. Currently, Crossroads has 35 employees, both full- and half-time.

The new building will be divided into four suites, each with seven to nine double bedrooms. Each suite will have a kitchen, where clients can cook their own food, and a social area.

"The residents like the homey feel of the present facility," Lutz said, and the new design is intended to preserve that atmosphere. One bedroom in each suite will be designated for people with special needs.

Although about 90 percent of domestic violence victims are women, men can be battered, too. One suite in the new shelter will be for abused men, and Lutz believes it will be the first such service in Colorado. Of males who are abused, she said, more than half are in same-sex relationships.

Other new features at the shelter will include an activity room for children and teens, a staffed medical examination room, a quarantine suite for infectious diseases, a meditation room/chapel and a commissary that will be stocked with food.

Amenities also include landscaped courtyards, a sewing area, a craft area and possibly an educational kitchen for cooking classes.

Office space will allow public officials, such as police officers or welfare workers, to meet with shelter clients in a safe environment.

With a larger shelter, Crossroads Safehouse will expand its influence beyond Larimer County. The facility will serve as a statewide shelter for victims of domestic violence. Some of Crossroads' new funding includes money for a transport vehicle. When victims live in an area where no shelter space is available, or when it's unsafe for them to stay in their own community, Crossroads will pick them up and bring them to the Fort Collins shelter.

Currently stays at the shelter are limited to six weeks, but Lutz said that could change with the new facility, depending on funding.

At present, about 95 percent of Crossroads' clients are from low- or medium-income families. That statistic fuels a common myth that victims of domestic violence are primarily low-income women. In fact, Lutz pointed out, seven of nine fatalities from domestic violence in the northern Front Range since 2004 were from economically stable families.

The problem is that more affluent people sometimes do not choose to go to a domestic violence shelter, she said.

The safehouse, Lutz emphasized, is not the only solution in a domestic violence crisis, but it should be considered a viable option. Just as people automatically go to a hospital for a broken arm, they "should think nothing of rushing to a safehouse for help," Lutz said.

For more information about the shelter or the capital campaign, call 530-2353 or go to the Crossroads web site at www.crossroadssafehouse.org. The agency's 24/7 crisis hotline is 482-3502.