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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 5, 1992                   TAG: 9201050103
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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TURNING POINT OFFERS 24-HOUR HELP

Roanoke's Turning Point program offers shelter and 24-hour telephone counseling to victims of domestic violence in the Roanoke Valley. The shelter's phone number is 345-0400.

In 1986, Turning Point gave shelter to 197 women and children.

In 1991, that figure had grown nearly 400 percent - to 760 women and children.

The shelter operates on a budget of about $250,000 a year. It's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with nine paid staffers. "They give till there's just no more to give," shelter director Darlene Young said.

The Turning Point also has a half-dozen regular volunteers, along with more than 100 other volunteers who provide help from time to time.

But, Young said, the shelter can always use more help. It needs volunteers who can:

Provide one-on-one counseling.

Baby-sit for the children at the shelter.

Answer the phone and perform other duties on the 4 p.m. to midnight shift.

Give transportation to medical appointments for women and children.

The shelter has one full-time counselor, but it's not enough, Young said. Her goal for 1992 is to find a children's psychologist who will donate some time to help the children at the shelter.

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