The YWCA of Greater Lafayette unveiled its new advocacy center Tuesday, where the organization hopes to offer better-quality services.
The center – which used to be the agency’s shelter building – will house classes, support groups and meetings.
Executive director Debi DeBruyn says the center will tie all of the Y’s domestic violence services together – unlike when they were all housed in the group’s shelter building.
“It didn’t provide a private environment, a quiet environment to do such things as group meetings, child advocacy, case management, one-on-one interviewing, protective orders,” she says. “Whatever the client needs.”
YWCA Greater Lafayette serves five counties, though the majority of their clients are Tippecanoe County residents.
DeBruyn says when the agency’s programs were run in the same building as the shelter, there were problems with privacy and space.
“And we were actually using some church space around the area,” she says. “So now, we basically have a domestic violence campus that enables us to work with clients while they’re in shelter and also when they’re out of shelter.”
From 2012 to 2013, the YWCA Greater Lafayette served about four times as many clients out of shelter than it had clients in shelter.
The YWCA Association raised nearly $100,000 and received grants to fund the repurposing project. The building was dedicated to Patricia and Kelley Carr, who also contributed.