Community comes through for A Woman's Place
URBANA – Tara Bossert was almost in tears as she opened the mail at A Woman's Place – not in frustration over the agency's financial problems, but in gratitude for generous donors.
By Friday afternoon individuals had sent in more than $12,000 to help support the agency, which has had to lay off 14 employees because it's owed $126,000 of past-due funding from the state.
Then, Carle Foundation Hospital called to say it was donating $10,000 to the shelter, which helps hundreds of victims of domestic violence each year.
"We're floored," said Bossert, human resources manager at A Woman's Place.
The $22,000 in donations will help keep the shelter operating until some longer-term funding solutions are found, Bossert said.
The United Way of Champaign County on Thursday allocated $18,000 in emergency funds to the agency to meet next week's payroll. The United Way will also convene a meeting of community stakeholders next week to determine what else can be done for A Woman's Place, said United Way President and CEO Lyn Jones.
Bossert said the staff is "extremely grateful" for all the help, including the Carle donation.
Carle spokeswoman Gretchen Robbins said the $10,000 is part of the hospital's Community Benefit Plan, which distributed just under $2.5 million to health care groups and other charitable organizations in fiscal 2009.
Dr. James Leonard, CEO of Carle Foundation, suggested the donation to A Woman's Place, she said. The hospital has worked closely with the agency in rape cases and has made smaller donations in the past, she said.
"This just seemed like a real need right now," Robbins said.
Two individuals dropped off checks of $1,000 at A Woman's Place this week, including a woman who works at another social services agency who said she couldn't imagine the shelter closing.
One $5,000 check arrived with a note saying, "We know this isn't much, but hopefully it can help," Bossert said. "That's the last one I opened. I didn't see it at first. It seriously made me lose my breath."
For the six staff members who remain, mostly to keep the shelter and 24-hour hotline open, the community support means everything, Bossert said.
"To know that people realize the importance of the service we provide and that people care about other people, it's heartwarming," she said. "It really raises our morale."
With the latest layoffs, the agency has eliminated 18 positions in the last year, she said. Rape Crisis Services, formerly part of A Woman's Fund (the parent organization), also split off into an independent agency this year.
Two of the 10 employees laid off this week were legal advocates who help abused women with court appearances or orders of protection. Those are "critical positions," Bossert said, but it's unclear how soon they can be restored.
"Until we get money from the state, there's no way we can bring back anyone else," she said.
The Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation is setting up a temporary program to help for the next couple of weeks: UI law students who can be trained to help with women file for orders of protection, said managing attorney Valerie McWilliams. She said Land of Lincoln will work with the UI College of Law's Domestic Violence Clinic, directed by adjunct Professor Karla Fischer, to handle the paperwork.
They may work in conjunction with the help desk that Land of Lincoln supervises at the county courthouse, which helps people who are representing themselves in court, McWilliams said.
She hopes the new clinic can start next week, with four or five UI students.
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