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GRANT WILL HELP EXPAND HOME FOR BATTERED WOMEN
By Catherine Snipe
Dottie's House has served women living in transitional housing and abused by domestic violence since opening in 2001. Now, the Brick facilities have a nearly half-million dollar grant to help serve them better.
Dottie's House founder and Vice President Carol Wolfe said the grant money came at a good time for the organization. The state awarded $450,000 to Dottie's House, under the Department of Community Affairs' Shelter Support Grants. The money will cover portions of a $1.3 million construction project which will add a new building, with two community rooms for counseling.
"When we have group therapy we'd end up sitting into foyer," Wolfe said. "It's better to have this."
The addition includes nine housing units, which are two- to three-bedroom apartments. Dottie's House hopes to open the facility in middle of December.
Wolfe said the organization applied for the grant in the spring.
"We were waiting with our fingers and toes crossed," she said. "We're very grateful."
The award is part of more than $9.9 million in Shelter Support Grants given statewide. The funds, part of an anti-poverty initiative, will go to 37 emergency shelters and transitional housing facilities and 15 domestic violence facilities across New Jersey.
"In the wealthiest state in the nation, it is unacceptable that we have thousands of people waking up each day unsure of whether they have a place to spend the next night," said Governor Jon Corzine, who announced the awards recently with state Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin.
The grants assist emergency shelter projects, transitional housing facilities and domestic violence facilities.
Projects will include renovations and new construction, but some include buying new furnishings and appliances. The funds can also be used for education and training on domestic violence issues.
"These funds will ensure that individuals have a safe, clean and respectful place to rebuild their lives," said Commissioner Levin in a prepared statement.
Dottie House's goal is to provide women and their children who have suffered domestic abuse with the tools to empower them to break free of the cycle of violence. The program sets up female-headed households within private apartments with their own furnishing and privacy. The residents receive psychological and career counseling, parenting classes and job training.
Opened in May 2001, Dottie's House has since raised more than one and a half million dollars through fundraising.
Its next fundraiser is a shopping event at the Ocean County Mall after hours. On November 19, ticketholders can receive special discounts from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. The cost is $10 through www.homes-now.org/EveOfGiving.htm.
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