Family center makes plans for new shelter

PALMER -- The Alaska Family Resource Center has plans for a new shelter for victims of domestic violence on a three-acre lot just south of downtown Palmer. The non-profit's current shelter is in a 50-something house downtown.

The need for a replacement was obvious on a recent tour of the shelter. Upstairs, a bedroom designed for one or two children has bunkbeds for eight. Family's as large as ten members have shared those bunks when their own home was no longer a safe place to stay, shelter workers said.

The ground floor has an administrative office, a secure vestibule and a common kitchen for clients. In the basement there is a laundry facility and a play room with TV and games -- it occasionally floods, leaving it unusable for a couple of days. The four-by-four columns that bear some of the weight above are splitting from age.

"There was an engineering study a number of years ago that basically said it would not be cost effective to try and keep repairing all the problems," AFRC executive director Donn Bennice said. The building isn't dangerous, according to Bennice, but it's only a matter of time before maintenance costs exceed the value of the property.

"At some point you can't repair that stuff anymore and we're almost to that point," Bennice said.

AFRC started with a group of concerned Valley women who got together in 1979. They founded AFRC's predecessor, the Valley Women's Resource Center. Their first program was an advocacy program for victims of rape. They also created a safe house program to shelter women and children who were victims of domestic violence.

Today, the organization also manages about a half-dozen programs that aren't related to domestic violence. AFRC is the local manager for the USDA Women, Women Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program and a similar USDA program that reimburses child care providers for food costs. In 1983, the nonprofit assumed the responsibility of managing the state of Alaska's child care assistance program in the Mat-Su area.

"Governments have found that they can't do everything themselves," Bennice said. "There has been a trend toward more contracts with non-profits to provide social services and that's true in health care and a lot of other areas as well."

The bulk of AFRC's construction money for the new shelter comes in the form of a $588,000 grant from the Rasmuson Foundation. It's a pass-through grant from the Alaska Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and in addition to the Rasmuson Foundation, the Denali Commission, the state of Alaska and Wells Fargo Bank Alaska are contributors to the council's grant pool, according to Bennice.

The city of Palmer is selling property to AFRC for the new construction, Bennice said, and is working with AFRC to secure another $500,000 government grant for a second construction phase for administrative office space. The city's commitment helped AFRC secure both major grants, according to Bennice.

"We really appreciate the city working with us. Without their help, this wouldn't have happened," he said.

AFRC will also be looking for local contributions this spring to buy furniture, appliances, security systems and playground equipment at the new shelter. There will be special fund-raising events in March celebrating Women's History Month, and fund-raising breakfasts this spring for the building drive. AFRC has set a goal of $100,000 in locally raised funds.