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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 23, 1994                   TAG: 9407210017
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE                                 LENGTH: Medium

WYTHEVILLE SHELTER OPEN AGAIN

A regional center for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence began taking clients at a new shelter Wednesday, more than two years after an electrical fire destroyed the previous one.

The Family Resource Center had been operating in rented quarters since the February 1992 fire that gutted the downtown Wytheville shelter. But the rented space could accommodate only eight women and children at a time.

As a result, the center had to turn away 292 abuse victims last year, said Sue Rudnicki, center director.

The new center has a capacity of 23, she said, "so we hope to meet some of that demand." It also has a new toll-free number, (800)613-6145, for people who need to call long-distance for shelter, referral or counseling. The local numbers are 228-8431 and 228-7141.

The shelter serves people in the counties of Wythe, Bland, Smyth, Carroll and Grayson and the city of Galax.

"We're really glad to have the building operational now," Rudnicki said. "It's been 28 months since the fire, and it kind of seems like 10 years. ... We were supposed to have been in in March."

The center will launch a volunteer recruitment effort in July, mainly to provide child care for women attending support group sessions and to answer the 24-hour telephone hot line set up for sexual assault and domestic violence victims. The center provides training for hot line volunteers, who can choose to work either days or nights.

The killing of the ex-wife of former football star O.J. Simpson has raised people's consciousness on spousal abuse, she said. Although all the facts are not in on the case, she said, it has been confirmed that Simpson had a history of abusing his ex-wife.

"It can't hurt us ... no matter how it turns out, because it's bringing light to the subject," she said. Spousal abuse is not a problem just in low-income families, she said, but crosses socioeconomic lines everywhere.

Domestic violence can be a problem in all types of families, she said. "It's out there, and it's happening all the time. If we were turning away 292 in one year, it's everywhere."

by CNB