Local Shelters Running at Capacity

When the beds fill up, the cots come out at the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter.

The shelter, located in Rogers, set a record of 43 residents in December, said Eva Laurin, director of outreach. In July, the shelter broke that record. First there were 50 women and children, then 51. This week, the shelter’s record was 53.

“We are the shelter that doesn’t turn anyone away,” Laurin said. “It’s better to have a roommate than to stay in an abusive situation.”

There are 31 beds at the Peace at Home Family Shelter in Fayetteville, but on Wednesday there were 42 people staying there, said Teresa Mills, shelter director.

Sometimes children double up in the beds, and babies get their own cribs, Mills said.

“That’s kind of where our overflow is,” she said.

Last August, Peace at Home hit its 2012 peak with 40 people staying in the shelter at one time, but in the months that followed, the number of people staying in the shelter held steady, Mills said.

“What we do tend to see in the summer is women with school-aged children,” Mills said.

Staff at both shelters plan to review long-term plans to see if expansion is a possibility.

Northwest Arkansas is lucky to have two shelters, Mills said.

“It’s unfortunate that both of those shelters are at capacity,” she said.

Police have been called to more domestic disturbances this year, but the increase has not been dramatic.

Springdale police had 27 more domestic calls this year during June and most of July than during the same period last year, said Lt. Derek Hudson, spokesman for the department.

Cpl. Dan Montgomery, a spokesman for the Fayetteville Police Department, said during the last three years, the department has made a concentrated effort to make sure those involved in domestic calls get help. That includes referring them to a shelter or counseling or asking the prosecutor’s office to press charges against an abuser whenever there is evidence.

Fayetteville had 83 domestic battery calls during the first seven months of last year and 91 this year.

Rogers has had fewer domestic battery calls during June and July this year than last year, said Keith Foster, department spokesman. Last year there were 23 domestic battery incidents June 1 through July 12. This year there were 14 calls during the same time period.

Advocates and police said there is no way to predict increases in domestic violence. Springdale’s population is increasing, and that can contribute to an overall number, Hudson said.

“Northwest Arkansas is growing, and sometimes crime is a growing pain,” Hudson said.

More people tell shelter advocates that they have heard about services there from others who have stayed at the shelter, Laurin said.

The first domestic violence shelters opened in Arkansas in the 1970s, said Terri Edens, program coordinator for the Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The coalition was formed in the early 1980s and has tried to make key players such as law enforcement, courts, emergency health care providers and service agencies aware of domestic abuse since.

There are 31 shelters in Arkansas who are members of the coalition, Edens said. In 2012, there were 1,936 women, 1,535 children and 71 men housed in shelters across the state.

Northwest Arkansas may be more of a draw than other, smaller shelters because it is a place where women who have left an abusive relationship can find jobs and a place to start over, Edens said.

This year a third of the people staying at Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter are from outside Northwest Arkansas, Laurin said. That is up 10 percent from last year. About half their clients are evenly distributed among Springdale, Rogers and Fayetteville. Some of their out-of-area clients are referred from other shelters that are full.

Just because Peace at Home has been full doesn’t mean people who need help will be left alone, Mills said.

“We can make it work,” she said.

The two shelters are short-term facilities, meaning women move on to stay with family or friends or find an apartment after they leave.

When a woman arrives at the shelter it is an emotional moment, Mills said. There is the separation from home and loss of possessions. She may have left behind a pet. There is the uncertainty of the future. Will her abuser find her? Can she be independent?

But in that same moment of fear, there is hope and excitement for what could be, Mills said.

“You’re watching bravery in action,” she said.