EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) -- A local group dedicated to helping support women dealing with domestic violence is struggling to make ends meet and has been forced to discontinue one of its services.
Womenspace has been assisting women in Lane County since 1977, offering shelter and support for those suffering from domestic violence, but due to recent cuts in funding the group has been forced to close their Walk-in Advocacy Service.
The service provided women and their children who have survived domestic violence with counseling, safety planning, and helping connect them to other local resources.
As of today, that service has ended due to a lack of funding.
Womenspace is devastated by the news, but they're doing their best to still provide women in need with walk-in assistance.
"We still have a 24-hour crisis line. So, it's not that people aren't going to be served, they're just not going to get served in the way that we would like them to. So if someone were to come into our office we're not going to turn them away,” says Peggy Whalen, Executive Director of Womenspace. “We would escort them to a counseling room, we would connect them with our crisis line. So, they would be in a safe place to be able to make that call, and to talk with an advocate, it would just be a phone service versus a one-on-one service.”
Womenspace says on average, about 80 women a month used the Drop-in Advocacy Service. As the main agency in our area serving domestic violence survivors.. They're concerned about a rising need in the community.
Womenspace is not only in need of funds, but Whalen says time is just as valuable to them. If you'd like to volunteer, they have training coming up at the end of January. For more information, visit their website at womenspaceinc.org.
