After 11 years of offering crisis intervention services and shelter to victims of domestic violence, the Dove Project will be forced to shut its doors on May 31. This came after the Office of the Attorney General, Criminal Justice Division notification that they were changing their fiscal year to start on September 1 rather than on July 1 and they would only be reimbursing the project for 40% of their monthly budget. The Dove Project has already been operating at a loss when they failed to get funding under the VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) grant this past year. That grant funded counseling services and half of a staff member’s salary. Many projects have closed down around the state due to federal monies being re-directed to the financial crisis.

The plan for now is to wait and see if they receive their new grant that would start on September 1, 2009 from the Victims of Crime Act or other grant resources.

The City of San Saba passed a resolution back in January of this year to allow the Dove Project to apply for 501c3 non-profit status from the IRS. It was the anticipation that with this they would be able to seek funding from private foundations and other non-government sources. However, that designation has not come through yet. Although, it is expected in the very near future.

The Dove Project will continue to take crisis calls only with the assistance of the San Saba Domestic Violence Task Force volunteers. In the event that persons need to be put in a shelter, they will be transported to shelters that have cooperative working agreements with the Dove Project.

Counseling services offered by the Taylor Clinic and Steve Swartz will continue through their offices.

“The confidence our community has shown by their participation in the services offered here and by the agencies we collaborate with have been greatly appreciated. We are hoping for some kind of a quick resolution,” stated Georgia Harris, Program Director.