History Of The Haven
In 1999, the McCulloch Cooperative Extension conducted a community futures forum. During this meeting participants determined critical issued facing citizens of McCulloch County. The most critical issues identified in the forum was the need for a family shelter in McCulloch county. A few weeks later, an action planning group was formed to begin plans to establish a family shelter. Eight of the seventy-eight participants of the community future forum participated in the group. They mirrored the diverse make-up of the community and represented clergy, medicine, buisness, social services, and education. Within 4 months the action planning group had completed the following.
- Visited established family shelters in the area to gather ideas and information on how to organize a shelter.
- Gained support of the County Commisioners Court and the Concho Valley Counsel of Governments.
- Had an accountant provide his assistance to help establish a nonprofit organization
- Researched various facilities that could be used to house the shelter.
- Worked with local business family who donated an old nursing home which became the home of the shelter.
By January 2000 the Action Panning Group was organized into a Family Shelter Board. Members established a name for the shelter, wrote by-laws, and submitted grant applications for funding. In April of 2000 the board was notified that they had been awarded an initial Victims Of Crimes Act (VOCA) grant of $89,648 through the Concho Valley Council of Governments. The funds for the grant provided operating cost for one year for the shelter. Due to the family shelter not having received its legal status to operate as a non-profit organization, the McCulloch County Commissioners Court agreed to run the family shelter for the first year under the auspices of the county's non-profit status. The shelter served its first client in 2001, to date it has served more than 5500 victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.