$106K given to three area not-for-profit organizations

Community Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO) partnered with the Children's Trust Fund (CTF) to grant $670,000 across 12 agencies in Missouri addressing child abuse, including three Southeast Missouri not-for-profit organizations.

Safe House of Southeast Missouri and Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence (SEMO-NASV) in Cape Girardeau, and the Regional Family Crisis Center in Perry County received a total of $106,007 as part of the Facility Improvement and Infrastructure Grant Program. The funds are intended to support improvements to facilities, security and transportation for each organization.

SEMO-NASV received the largest portion of the grant out of the three Southeast Missouri organizations, acquiring $57,136 to use toward the purchase of a new passenger van.

"We specifically asked if we could use it for transportation or purchasing a vehicle, because (transportation) is one of the things that we noticed is most needed," SEMO-NASV development director Alix Gasser said. "We have clients that we see who have trouble getting to our services, whether that be they don't have access to a vehicle or they don't have the gas to get to our facility."

SEMO-NASV opened a satellite office in April in New Madrid, which has provided more access for clients. The purchase of a new vehicle will help provide even more potential clients with the opportunity to seek help.

Safe House of Southeast Missouri shelter director Kim Dixon, left, and executive director Jessica Hill with a grant from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and Children's Trust Fund.Courtesy of Community Foundation of the Ozarks

"We were able to open a satellite office thanks to some infrastructure funds that were available through CTF, which has helped tremendously in the Bootheel region with access," Gasser said. "We've actually seen those numbers double, and that's not because abuse is happening more frequently, it's just that people have access to the services. The next thing we were trying to tackle was transportation because that's another hurdle that we know that our clients are facing, so we're really excited to be able to purchase a van."

In addition to buying a vehicle, SEMO-NASV also plans to use some of the funds to help furnish a new suite the organization purchased with grant funding received last year.

"We expanded our counseling office here at our main location in Jackson, Missouri. Initially, we had three of the four suites in our building, and we actually moved into the fourth suite in September of '23," Gasser said. "With that, we're trying to furnish that space, which we can do with this grant as well."

Safe House of Southeast Missouri received $31,871, which the organization will put toward upgrading computer equipment in its client computer lab and improvements of the facility's security camera systems.

"We really felt like this grant came along at a really important time for us," Safe House executive director Jessica Hill said. "We built a new, larger shelter in 2019, and in June we will have been in it for five years. It seems like that is kind of a time when things start to need to be replaced."

Safe House's computer lab is crucial for its clients who use it for various things including filling out job applications, working and doing schoolwork. Additionally, some of the new shelter's security cameras have worn out from five years of use and need to be replaced.

"One of the things that we were so excited about for our new shelter is being able to provide a computer lab for our clients," Hill said. "It gets used every day and our clients are using it to apply for jobs and, in some cases, complete their GED online. We've even had a case where one client was able to get a job where she worked online and used one of the computers. ... That's really been a great feature of our shelter and it definitely gets utilized every day.

"Of course, our highest priority for our clients is to maintain their safety. We want them to feel extremely secure when they're in our facility and we do our best to maintain really high confidentiality and security at all times. Part of that is having a really robust security system. Over time, things like security cameras wear out, so we have a couple that need to be replaced. As we've been in the building now for several years, our staff have identified, 'Hey, it would be great if we had a camera pointed in this direction.' They've identified some places where they felt like we would benefit from additional cameras, so we'll be able to do that as well."

Regional Family Crisis Center (RFCC) in Perry County was awarded the remaining $17,000, which will go toward improving the HVAC system and repairing a privacy fence at its domestic violence shelter.

"It's extremely helpful because in order for us to keep our shelter safe and running, we need emergency repairs for the HVAC systems," RFCC executive director Emily MacDonald said. "We also need to repair and replace our back security fence because, obviously, being a DV shelter, confidentiality and safety are top priorities for us. Without the money in this grant, we wouldn't be able to provide safe living conditions for our women and our children here."

RFCC has three HVAC systems at its shelter and recently two broke down, one of which caused flooding to the basement. Fortunately, the center's staff was able to clean the mess without any additional costs.

"We didn't have to pay for any cleanup," MacDonald said. "Fortunately, I have an amazing staff and we were able to do it ourselves."

Since each organization is a not-for-profit, they rely on volunteers to help out. Anyone interested in volunteering may do so by contacting SEMO-NASV at (573) 332-1900, Safe House of Southeast Missouri at (573) 335-7745 and the Regional Family Crisis Center at (573) 547-2480.

For more information about the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, visit www.cfozarks.org, and for more information on the Children's Trust Fund, visit www.ctf4kids.org.