NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The local domestic violence shelter has been without a dedicated home for displaced families since Hurricane Florence struck in 2018.
The 125-year-old home that housed up to 19 women lost its roof and suffered severe water damage. It was completely gutted following the natural disaster four years ago and became non-operational.
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By early 2023, Domestic Violence Shelter and Services — providing a safe space and supportive services for women, children and families for over three decades — will open its doors to a new facility.
“We never stopped services,” executive director Lauren Daley Bryant explained. “We found alternative locations but at an extremely high cost to our agency.”
Bryant said the nonprofit’s been spending up to $50,000 per month to house clients city-wide.
The only shelter in New Hanover County with a 24-hour crisis line and 24/7 intakes, DVSS has helped more than 4,000 clients over the last four years. Total services provided have jumped from 8,240 in 2019 to 10,674 in 2021.
Since the pandemic began, Bryant said shelter services have gone up 300%; calls increased 157% from last year and overall services have risen by 34%.
“And we’re not seeing that decrease,” she added. “The need is here in our community.”
Prior to Florence, Bryant said individuals required shelter services for about seven to 10 days, but now most average six-week stays.
“We start with a two-week process and look at extensions,” she said. “Everything is done case-by-case. The affordable housing crisis in our community makes it hard for individuals to identify somewhere else to go.”
The median income in the county is around $56,000 and less than 10% of the housing supply averages under $200,000. More than half of renters in the area pay more than 30% — the national rule of thumb — of the average median income for housing.
Results from a joint county and city housing survey from 2021 show there is an estimated housing gap of over 10,700 rental units and over 13,000 for-sale housing units within the county over the next 10 years. Both local governments have committed annual funds to increase affordable housing supplies.
“This provides limited options for clients to be able to move into when leaving the shelter,” Bryant said.
According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence — a social change organization headquartered in Washington D.C. and representing 56 state and U.S. territory coalitions against domestic violence — abuse survivors often face housing discrimination due to repeated calls to the police, lack of steady employment, poor credit and ruined rental histories, and lack of economic security. It makes it more difficult to secure safe and affordable living situations.
Last year, DVSS sheltered nearly 238 individuals for a total of 9,000 “shelter days” — the cumulative number of days, plus the number of individuals. It assisted 2,179 women, men and children through its various services, including court advocacy, counseling, transportation, support groups and more.
DVSS began searching for a new location in early 2019 to open a more spacious shelter.
“We wanted to look at something that would be a better fit, so we could grow a little and be more supportive for clients,” she said.
It took a little over a year before they landed on a place that was conveniently located to other nearby services — public transit stops, medical offices and a grocery store. Bryant said “removing barriers” is important for people temporarily living in the shelter.
The new location — which remains undisclosed for safety reasons but is within city limits, Bryant confirmed — will be about 2,000 square feet larger than the original. Bryant said DVSS went under contract on the property in May 2020 and closed that November after working through the planning process with the city.
Contractors began work on renovating the structure this summer; the goal is to have it operational by 2023
The 7,200-square-foot facility will include a workout area, laundry facilities, meeting space, a large commercial-sized kitchen and expanded dining area, along with a playroom double the size of the prior space and with additional bedrooms. It also will have four bathrooms and a separate ADA-accessible shower area.
It will comfortably house at least 26 adults with room to set up pack-and-plays for children. More bedrooms also offer the opportunity for privacy, with two beds per room as opposed to four beds per room in the previous location.
The property is fenced-in and outfitted with cameras, panic buttons and other “high-tech gadgets,” Bryant said.
DVSS purchased the property outright for almost $1 million and is infusing another $1.3 million into renovations.
The nonprofit is not quite to its $2.3 million capital investment goal. So far, it has raised $1.6 million. “We’ve been fundraising to replenish that,” Bryant said.
DVSS relies on federal, state and local resources. In fiscal year 2023, it received about $335,000 from federal sources, $90,000 from the state and $174,000 between city council and county commissioners. The grants cover employee salaries, rent, child care assistance for clients, insurance and shelter meals. Added American Rescue Plan Act and Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act money assisted with shelter expenses as well.
In the last few years, funding from government grants, which is about one-third of its money, has decreased by half.
“And we’re likely to see another cut next year,” Bryant said. “No funding source is ever guaranteed.”
For example, in 2019 DVSS received $359,379 from the governor’s Victims of Crime Act — a two-year grant term — compared to $169,359 received in 2021.
Additional funding for DVSS comes from local organizations such as United Way, churches and individual donors, as well as profits from DVSS’s three Vintage Values thrift shops.
“The proceeds go back into our programming,” Bryant said. “And clients receive vouchers to shop there.”
Earlier in the month, city council and the county commissioners both signed resolutions declaring October Domestic Violence Awareness Month. “We use Domestic Violence Awareness Month as an educational opportunity versus focusing on fundraising events,” Bryant said.
The nonprofit hosted Silent Witness, National Night Out, Rocktoberfest, Take Back the Night, Home Again Fundraiser and Empower Wilmington.
Individuals can still donate to the shelter reestablishment funds through DVVS’ website.
The DVSS public offices are accessible at 2901 Market St., and the 24/7 hotline can be accessed by calling 910-343-0703.
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