Land donation helps advance plans for shelter in San Luis
Facility would assist victims of domestic violence
SAN LUIS, Ariz. – A land donation has given a group formed against domestic violence a push forward in efforts to build a long-sought shelter in this city for victims of abuse.
San Luis developer Nieves Riedel this week donated a nearly 2.6-acre lot for a future shelter to the South Yuma County Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
In a formal ceremony, a donation letter was handed over to Pueblo Housing, a nonprofit organization that serves as fiscal agent for the coalition and is a partner in the project.
Agustin Tumbaga, executive director of Pueblo Housing, said the gift will simplify the organization’s efforts to secure financing, either in the form of loans or grants, for the shelter that will be built in an undisclosed location in a subdivision Riedel is developing
The shelter has yet to be designed, but preliminary plans call for it to be split up into independent living areas, each with its own kitchenette, where battered women and their children can stay until they find permanent living arrangements.
The shelter, sought by groups in San Luis for more than two decades, will provide a refuge for victims who now must travel to Yuma to find safe haven from domestic violence situations.
Maria Ramos, the coalition’s president, said a shelter is needed in San Luis, given that the victimized women typically work in that city and their children go to school there.
The land donation had been announced months earlier, but the signing of documents to finalize the transfer had to wait until Riedel secured the city’s approval of a subdivision she plans to develop. The site of the shelter will be kept confidential to provide safety to victims staying there.
The next hurdle will be financing the construction of the shelter, and Pueblo Housing and the coalition are looking at options for raising the money through loans, grants and donations.
The coalition already has set aside $53,000 as proceeds from the sale of a newly completed home that Riedel donated to help raise money for the shelter. The construction fund will get additional money from the sale of a second home also donated by the developer.
“This is a huge step that we have been working on as a coalition since 2012,” Ramos said. “Little by little, people who are willing to donate have been coming forward, and there have been more donors,” Ramos said.
Jesse Lopez, president of Pueblo Housing, said the coalition and the nonprofit group expect to save on construction costs for the shelter by using labor contributed by students in the YouthBuild program. YouthBuild is a remedial education that allows high school dropouts to take classes to earn high school equivalency diplomas, in return for doing community service projects.
Tumbaga said design of the shelter alone could cost around $80,000 given the size of the building.