Domestic violence Survivor Resource Center will open in uptown this spring

Two local domestic violence advocacy groups are helping to open the Survivor Resource Center in uptown this spring for people, of all ages, who are experiencing immediate crises.

Safe Alliance and Pat’s Place Child Advocacy Center are leading the effort to house an array of services — including forensic interviews, trauma counseling and safety planning — in a single location. Their goal is to ease the burden of victims who often have to travel to different agencies and retell their stories of abuse.

The facility, which is expected to remain open for about three years, is considered a precursor for an expected, comprehensive Charlotte-Mecklenburg family justice center that would enhance victim safety and curb homicides linked to domestic violence.

“This system is confusing and overwhelming for anyone,” said Andrew Oliver, the chief executive officer of Pat’s Place. “I think this is an important first step for our community. It’s our hope that we can begin the process of intervening earlier and providing a support system that works for victims and children.”

The Survivor Resource Center will be situated within the Children and Family Services Center at 601 E. 5th St. and offer “navigator” staff who can guide victims once they enter the 5,600-square-foot space.

County social services agencies, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Pat’s Place and Safe Alliance will collaborate on the “highest lethality cases.”

That includes victims who are living in high-risk environments with weapons, as well as drugs and alcohol, said Karen Parker, the president and chief executive officer of Safe Alliance. Such victims have often been strangled by their domestic partners, Parker said.

The Survivor Resource Center is expected to serve 675 adults and 650 children, solely through referrals, during the first year of operations, Oliver said.

Beyond domestic violence among adults, the center will also focus on child abuse, elder abuse and human trafficking.

“We just know we need to build something that’s a much friendlier system,” Parker said. “We’ve really listened to survivors telling us we need to do things differently.”

Raising funds for a family justice center

The three-year pilot program will combine the business practices of its partner agencies to prepare for a permanent, more robust 100,000-square-foot family justice center located in or near uptown. The pilot program is expected to cost almost $860,000, to be split among the partner agencies.

The center, which will have 150 core staff members, would accommodate drop-in visits from all survivors, featuring a blend of general health care, magistrate and social services, interview and therapy rooms, outdoor play areas and other spaces catered to various cultural needs. Satellite offices could be incorporated throughout Mecklenburg County, potentially including Davidson and Matthews.

But Parker said a $45 million fundraising campaign marks the most significant hurdle in establishing a family justice center in the region.

Charlotte and Mecklenburg County are both being asked to commit $10 million to the project, though it’s unclear when votes on the funding would happen. An additional $25 million would come from private donors, with $5 million designated for an endowment.

In a presentation to county commissioners on Tuesday, Parker and Oliver said Mecklenburg already spends nearly $50 million annually on domestic violence.

Mental health care, for example, costs the county around $6.7 million — and lost work productivity is estimated at $9 million, according to statistics from the Jamie Kimble Foundation for Courage, an organization aimed at ending intimate partner violence.

“I’m just staggered by how much prevention this can help with,” commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell said during Tuesday’s meeting. “I think this is about trying to help folks while you’re struggling before you lose everything ... and this is not re-victimizing people further, further and further.”

Though planning is still preliminary, county manager Dena Diorio voiced her support for the center, telling commissioners “this is the model that’s going to work in this space.”

Parker said she anticipates fundraising will be finished by 2021. If “everything fell into place,” she said, the family justice center could open in 2023.

This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 2:35 PM.