By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
COLBY — Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services will reopen an office in Colby after almost a year and open a shelter in the city for the first time in Options history.
Options has two paid staff in the area, but it had to close its office because of financial concerns. The organization has been able to secure new grant money, which allowed it to sign a lease on a new Colby office and take steps toward opening a shelter.
The Options Colby office, 225 W. Fifth, is interviewing now for two family advocate positions. Options will be working over the next few weeks to get the office set up. It will be accepting donations for startup costs as those are not covered by the grants. Hecker hoped to be open and fully staffed by mid-February.
When the office in Colby reopens, it will offer all of the services that are offered in Hays. Some of these services include 24-hour response and helpline, crisis intervention, personal advocacy, medical advocacy, law enforcement advocacy, court advocacy, 24-hour emergency accommodations, supportive counseling, support group, child in need of services, parent and child advocacy, and education and community awareness services.
Eight months after the office opens, Options plans to open the shelter. The shelter will be able to accommodate six and will accept men, women and children.
Jennifer Hecker, Options executive director, said without a safe place to go, many victims of abuse will stay in violent situations. Some who do leave come to shelter with only the clothes on their backs. The shelter will provide survivors with food, clothing, toiletries and services to replace needed documents, such as Social Security cards.
Hecker said coming to Ellis County is not an option for many abuse survivors. The survivor would have to quit his or her job, take children out of school and leave family and friends behind.
“Many of the survivors we work with in our far western counties choose not to come into safe shelter even though they may really need it because it is too far away from their current support system,” she said. “We don’t think that location should ever be a barrier for someone to be able to access shelter. That is why we really want to open that office so people don’t have to make that difficult choice.”
Options has a special-use permit hearing on the new shelter in February.
“We don’t anticipate any problems obtaining the special-use permit,” Hecker said. “We found the community of Colby is very welcoming and certainly they are concerned with the health and safety of their residents. Having a local program where people can just walk in and receive services, I’m sure will be greatly appreciated. It makes access for that community much stronger, and that means more people can move on and escape domestic or sexual violence once those walk-in services are available.”
Options has seen a 295 percent increase in the last two years in the use of its services and anticipates reopening the office in Colby and adding a shelter there will push those numbers even higher. Hecker has said she does not think the number of domestic and sexual violence cases have increased, but survivors are becoming more aware of services and accessing them.
Community members expressed concern a year ago when Options closed its Colby office. Staff members still traveled to the area to provide services, and Options still saw a 67 percent increase in services provided in the Colby area even without an office.
“As that demand is growing, we need to get back in and reopen the office, so we can maximize our dollars,” Hecker said.
The agency is in a much better place financially than when the office was closed, Hecker said. Options has been able to double its grant dollars in the last two years. Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, helped Options find additional grant funding to get the Colby office back open.
Options serves 18 counties in northwest Kansas including: Cheyenne, Rawlins, Decatur, Norton, Phillips, Smith, Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, Graham, Rooks, Osborne, Wallace, Logan, Gove, Trego, Ellis and Russell counties.
Options’ 24-hour helpline is 1-800-794-4624.