After facing a $2 million cut in federal funding, A Safe Place — a Lake County organization that provides support to victims of domestic violence — is in the early stages of fundraising for a new multi-million dollar facility in Grayslake.
Today, the proposed plot of land is just farmland along Rollins Road, but the 17 acres would become a new home for “wraparound” services, according to A Safe Place CEO Patricia Davenport, with enough beds to house more than 100 people at any given time.
Davenport said she’s seen the need for their services rise “tremendously” in the last decade. When she took over as CEO in 2012, the organization was a $2 million operation serving about 500 people. Today, she said, that’s jumped to more than 24,000 people a year, with a $10 million annual budget, taking hundreds of crisis calls a week.
Next week marks the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Davenport said it’s important to educate people about what it looks like and how to help. The COVID pandemic caused an increase in domestic violence issues, creating a “pressure cooker” for victims forced to stay in place with abusers. “It’s an epidemic,” she said.
“It’s an equal-opportunity offender,” Davenport said. “It doesn’t matter how old you are, how much money you have … it affects everyone.”
Part of the organization’s challenge is that there are “just not enough beds” for domestic abuse victims who need a place to stay, an issue the new facility would help address. Related items recently passed the Grayslake Plan Commission, and will be going before the Village Board early next month.
Lost funding
Davenport said the organization will need about $17 million for the facility, and so far has raised a few million in pledges, as well as about $1 million in state funding secured by state Rep. Laura Faver Dias, D-Grayslake.
In a statement, Dias praised A Safe Place for the “safety, support and hope” it offers to survivors of domestic abuse.
“Their dedicated staff is committed to helping survivors heal the trauma that remains long after the physical danger has ended. They provide a path forward to self-determination and hope through counseling, therapy, legal assistance and much more,” Dias said. “But they cannot offer this support without our help.”
The support is especially critical as the organization faces federal-level cuts. Davenport said A Safe Place officials learned over the summer that they had lost $2 million in federal dollars from the Department of Human Services and the Office of Justice, leading to the loss of a dozen staff people.
It’s not the first time nonprofits, including A Safe Place, have faced cuts, she said, and Davenport called on the community for support.
“Nonprofits, we’re given the biggest problem to be solved in the world with limited resources,” she said. “When we face challenges like we are facing today with budget cuts, I think that’s when we need more people to step up (and) take a stand to help us in this work.”
