Harbor House, SAC receive $10K for renovation

The money from a former Roman will go toward work at the Sexual Assault Center building to allow Harbor House offices to move in.

Work at the Sexual Assault Center building will allow Harbor House offices to move in.

Board members, staff and executives from Harbor House, Primrose School and the Sexual Assault Center of Northwest Georgia gathered around a $10,000 check given in memory of former Rome resident and co-founder of Primrose Schools Paul Erwin.

The small ceremony took place at the Harbor House main office in downtown Rome on Friday morning. The organization was receiving the money from Primrose to help finish renovations at the SAC building on Shorter Avenue.

It was announced in January that Kim Davis would step in as executive director for both

Harbor House and SAC after director Gail Garland stepped down from Harbor House. However now both organizations will do more than partner together and share an executive, according to Davis, the two groups will move into the same building by the end of the year.

The SAC has two floors that need to be renovated in order for the move to happen, she said. Currently, the two small

houses owned by the Harbor House organization sit in the downtown district. Although only one is used extensively, the two houses will be sold once the move is final.

According to Davis, several details have not been finalized as far as a merger and rebranding goes.

The Rome Harbor House exists to combat child abuse in the Floyd County and surrounding areas. During a tour of the

staff offices, Administer Kelly Perry pointed out the different rooms and their uses. Such rooms included play rooms for kids and teens, fully quipped interview rooms where potentially abused minors are interviewed by the trained staff members at Harbor House. She said the space they will be moving into at the SAC building will be a similar size to the house they are currently in.

The money given by Primrose will go toward the renovations and in return, there will be a room named after Erwin in the new building. Until the move, the organizations will use the Roman Rumble 5K race and 2-mile health walk as a fundraiser to help the process.

“We are very grateful for Primrose Schools and the donation,” Perry said.

John Popham / Rome News-Tribune Harbor House Administrator Kelly Perry (right) gives Board President Scott Wood and Jo Kirchner of Primrose Schools a tour of the Harbor House administrative building Friday in downtown Rome.

John Popham / Rome News-Tribune Harbor House Board Member Stewart Duggan (from left) stands Friday with Kim Davis, executive director of Harbor House and the Sexual Assault Center of Northwest Georgia; Jo Kirchner, CEO of Primrose Schools; and Harbor...