O’Reilly Automotive Foundation gives $25K to Wild Iris

Grant will support safe housing for domestic violence survivors

When someone decides to leave their abuser, they and their children need a safe place to go.

Providing that is just one way Wild Iris Family Counseling and Crisis Center promotes a safer community, and now the organization is getting some help of its own.

The O’Reilly Automotive Foundation, Inc., has announced a grant of $25,000 to support the program.

“We know it takes incredible courage to ask for help and to decide to leave,” said Julie Gray, president and executive director of O’Reilly Automotive Foundation, Inc., the philanthropy arm of O’Reilly Auto Parts. “Once a victim takes those steps, we want them to land in a safe place where they and their family can start to heal.”

Wild Iris began in 1981 with two women and a telephone. It now has two offices and reaches all of Inyo and Mono counties, not only serving victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse, but also offering classes to prevent violence, including parenting classes and youth violence prevention.

“This gift is a wonderful support for our Transitional Housing program, and it will go a long way toward helping survivors rebuild their lives,” said Vanessa Hays, executive director of Wild Iris.

If you are in an abusive situation and you need help, you can call Wild Iris’ 24/7 crisis line at 1-877873-7384.

Other programs Wild Iris offers is CASA (Coutr Appointed Special Advocate, which provides foster youth with professional volunteer advocates in order to objectively gather information and provide a voice for the child in court as well as provide the child with consistent adults in their lives while in foster care.

The Wild Iris service area is all of Inyo and Mono counties, including Death Valley and Tecopa regionas and Coleville/ Walker, north to the Nevada state line.

For more information about Wild Iris, visit, www. wild-iris.org.