It takes an incredible amount of courage to leave an abusive relationship.
For most women and their children, it involves leaving everything they own– no purse, no driver’s license, no children’s toys, or anything familiar– to begin a new life free from family violence or sexual assault.
Inspired by the thousands of women and children who have found the courage to leave an abusive situation, we are launching Campaign of Courage, a capital campaign to build the first Shelter with a Family Peace Center in Arkansas.
The Campaign of Courage is an investment in the future of Women & Children First and the expansion of remarkable, courageous initiatives in central Arkansas that will prove to be a statewide model.
The Family Peace Center is a nationally proven concept that provides a safety net of services for victims of domestic violence.
Currently, a woman must go to 22 places just in Pulaski County to get the documents they need to begin a new life. (Birth certificates, Driver’s license, Orders of Protection and many more). The Center will be a comprehensive facility in which many agencies will come together to provide consolidated and coordinated legal, social, and health services to women, men, and children in need. A place where victims of family violence will come to one location and be able to tell their story just one time. The new shelter will provide much needed safety and comfort to those who have been living in fear or worse.
Domestic violence in Arkansas is a growing crisis that impacts every county in the state. Women & Children First is at the forefront of addressing this issue by building a Shelter and Family Peace Center. This facility will offer essential resources to end abuse and foster healiing for survivors across the state.
Planning for the Campaign of Courage began after a comprehensive facility assessment of the
current 54-bed shelter reported that the 116-year-old building was not large enough to accommodate the growing number of domestic violence victims and our expanded programs. The Board of Directors unanimously voted to begin work on a capital campaign to build a new shelter, and they had the courage to dream bigger. By 2021, Women and Children First was actively working with Alliance for HOPE International to bring the nationally recognized and proven Family Peace Center model to Arkansas.
Planning for the facility continued to determine the cost and scope of the project.
Witsell, Evans, Rasco (WER) provided architectural drawings for a new 132-bed shelter and Family Peace Center, Nabholz provided construction estimates from and The City of Little Rock helped with site selection and leased almost 4 acres of land in Southwest Little Rock to Women & Children First for one dollar a year for 99 years.
Before officially launching the Campaign of Courage and asking our donors for support, we raised $12 million in Federal, State, and County money, and received a $4 million challenge grant from the Windgate Foundation.
Our goal is $24 Million for this comprehensive campaign. This money will ensure that The Forest of Hope Family Peace Center will give Safety, Strength and Courage to all victims of family violence for years to come.
Message from co-chairs.
Women & Children First: The Center Against Family Violence is one of the oldest continually operating statewide domestic violence emergency shelters in the state. (45years). True to our long-standing mission, we empower those who are victims of sexual assault or family violence, and their children, to live independently and free from violence.
Our dynamic programs have successfully helped more than 18,392 women and children, and we continually explore ways to adapt to meet the increasing and changing needs of our families. Our board members and staff are dedicated and engaged in finding innovative and creative ways to solve the problems of family violence.
Safety, Strength, and Hope for All Victims of Domestic Violence guides our culture at Women & Children First.
We celebrate with every woman who has made the first courageous step to create a safety plan and take steps toward independence. And we hope you will be touched by the stories of courage.
We are in the process of building a much larger shelter to allow us to serve many more people in crisis. It’s quite amazing to realize we will have the first domestic violence shelter and a sexual assault shelter along with a Family Peace Center in Arkansas.
We are making history and saving more lives. This is an exciting and pivotal time, and we are so thankful for the incredible support of our community. We invite you to join us in making this a reality.
Thank you for helping to make a difference in the lives of women and children impacted by domestic violence.
Cathy Browne, Campaign of Courage Chair
Daniel Robinson, Campaign of Courage Co-Chair
and other news about programs, events, and ways to partner with WCF.