WYTHE TO GIVE ABUSE SHELTER TAX BREAK

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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 16, 1992                   TAG: 9201160375
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium
WYTHE TO GIVE ABUSE SHELTER TAX BREAK
A five-county shelter for abused women and children will get a tax break from its home county in future years.
Until now, the Family Resource Center got less funding support from its own Wythe County than from the other participating localities.
The Wythe County Board of Supervisors voted after a public hearing Tuesday night to have Del. Tom Jackson, D-Hillsville, introduce a bill in the General Assembly to grant tax-exempt status to the Family Resource Center.
That will save the shelter about $750 a year, a significant savings for the operation's meager budget.
Last year, the supervisors declined to seek tax-exempt status for the shelter but did contribute back the amount the shelter paid in taxes.
"Shelters get so little money that it's difficult for anyone to justify cutting it," said Katie Gifford, its director.
Maria Timmoney, a lawyer for Legal Aid, said there are new laws under which abuse victims can get protection through court orders, but that help does not come immediately.
While a victim is awaiting a court hearing, she often needs to go somewhere to avoid possible further abuse against her or her children, Timmoney said. "I'll meet them in court, but they've got to get there safely."
She noted that the staff at the center - which serves residents of Wythe, Carroll, Grayson, Smyth and Bland counties and the city of Galax - also provides services to women and children who do not actually use it as a shelter.
These include classes on parenting skills, helping the women become self-sufficient through further schooling or jobs, assisting in finding housing, and providing someone to go to court with them.
Sarah Turner, a social worker with Lutheran Family Services, said that without the center there would be more youngsters on foster care or in institutions.
Supervisor Olin Armentrout was surprised to learn that the center had worked with more than 90 rape victims in the past year. "Frankly, that overwhelms me."
"I'm sure there are as many more instances out there that do not get reported," Gifford said. She said only about 15 percent end up in court because it is difficult for someone who has been raped to come forward, particularly in a rural area where many people know one another.
Most of the shelter's support comes from grants but, Timmoney explained, grant sources often look to see how much support an applicant gets from its local government.
The shelter recently raised $3,000 from a raffle and a mail campaign, but that was less than half what the shelter had hoped to bring in.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB