Domestic-violence shelters hoping for state budget aid

The whiteboard on an office wall at the CHOICES for Victims of Domestic Violence shelter tells a story.

On it was written “122” — the shelter’s occupancy on a recent weekday, as well as the first names of 10 more people expected to arrive that day.

Capacity is 120.

Just down the hall, behind closed doors, a family was sleeping on couches in what normally is a lounge area. It’s one way shelter officials handle the chronic overflow they experience.

And this day is typical. In a surge officials attribute partly to the COVID-19 pandemic, calls to the shelter hotline have increased from an average of 11 a day, pre-COVID, to nearly 14 a day in recent months.

Despite CHOICES increasing its space from 52 beds to 120 when it moved into the new shelter in January 2019, demand has already outstripped supply.

And that’s why Franklin County’s only domestic-violence shelter later this month will open a 24-bed expansion.

“When we built the shelter, we roughed in space for an addition because it made sense economically,” said Sue Villilo, assistant vice president of community-based services for Lutheran Social Services, which runs the shelter. “But I didn’t think we would need it so soon.”

This increased need is mirrored statewide, which is why advocates are lobbying the Ohio legislature to increase the line-item funding for the state’s domestic-violence programs from the current $1 million annually to $5 million.