Sadly, domestic violence reached an all-time high. In each of the past four years, we lost approximately 100 lives to domestic violence statewide. Wisconsin became 8th in the nation for domestic violence homicide.

Safe shelter and supportive services save lives, prevent injury, and minimize trauma. But our former facility had limitations that forced us to turn away over 50 individuals from shelter each year.

• Safety: Our shelter consisted of two separate buildings, posing a safety risk when clients had to move from one building to the other (we were also on a corner with high street exposure).
• Large families: Only 3 of our 10 bedrooms could accommodate 5 or more people. The inability to house larger family sizes was the #1 reason we turned people away.
• Accessibility: Only 3 of our 10 bedrooms were ADA accessible. Now, all rooms are ADA-accessible.
• Pets: Due to communal living, we were unable to accept pets. About 50% of survivors chose not to enter the shelter if they could not bring their pet (PALS Report, 2021).

While we are proud of how we served thousands of survivors over the past 30 years, we know we can – and must – continue to do better.