One Place puts grant money to work
By Macy Reeves
For the FCT
With the goal of helping victims of violence, One Place of the Shoals is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
One Place began when a victim of domestic violence was murdered. After review of her case, it was discovered she had been abused on different occasions. “Victims, many with children in tow, are re-victimized trying to navigate between the emergency room, the police department, the magistrate’s office, the counseling center, the lawyer’s office, the clerk’s office, the Judge’s office, social services office and court,” said LeAnn Brown, victim service coordinator at One Place.
Gov. Robert Bentley announced that the Appalachian Regional Commission is giving One Place of the Shoals a grant of $97,49. The ARC was established by Congress in 1965 as a supplemental grant program, created to raise the standard of living, promote economic development and improve the quality of life in the 37 Alabama counties the ARC serves.
“The grant helps establish a new facility that helps with domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and elder abuse. It allows them to help abused victims,” said Josh Caples, an employee at Appalachian Regional Commission.
One Place of the Shoals serves five Alabama counties: Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Marion and Winston.
“Victims need one place to obtain services. They need dedicated and trained professionals providing services in one place. They need someone they can trust and someone who will walk this journey with them from beginning to whatever place they need to be. Thy need to be certain that offenders are held accountable,” said Brown.
Without One Place of the Shoals, victims of abuse would have to go to several different locations to do what the professionals at One Place of the Shoals can do in their one location.
“They get discouraged, as they are forced to tell and re-tell their stories to new strangers at every turn in open places where the offender may show up at to at any time,” Brown said. “This leads to victims giving up and never getting the services they need. Instead they may feel stuck in dangerous, abusive and life-threatening situations and continue to suffer at the hands of the offender. This is what One Place of the Shoal, Inc. will do: it will provide centralized, collaborated, professional services, ensuring safety and services for victims and be a safe and caring environment for victims of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, child sexual and physical abuse and elder abuse, where multiple agencies provide services under one roof in one place.”
One Place of the Shoals is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. but is on call 24/7. To get help from One Place of the Shoals, stop by during their hours and fill out a form, along with doing an interview. One Place is located at 200 West Tennessee St., in Florence.
