Submitted by Eads Hooper / Public Relations Intern / Sunwest Communications
This summer, The Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) is awarding $318,000 to 13 domestic violence agencies across Texas via the 2024 Swalm Grants. The grants – designed to fund operations not usually covered by government funds – will go towards a variety of needs, but TCFV noticed the most common ones revolved around urgent infrastructure needs that uphold survivor safety and expand shelter capacity for more survivors seeking safety.
“TCFV is grateful to pro-vide this financial support for important and urgent needs of our member agencies. We are here to support the providers and advocates on the front lines of the domestic violence field, whether it’s leading discussions at the capital, providing guidance on how to navigate new policy, or in this case, providing a means to improve their facilities and safety,” said Gloria Aguilera Terry, CEO of TCFV.
A list of all 2024 Swalm Grant recipients reads:
• Bay Area Turning Point; Webster, TX
• Crisis Center of Comal County; New Braunfels, TX
• Dove Project, Inc.; San Saba, TX
• Family Crisis Center, Inc.; Harlingen, TX
• Freedom House; Waco, TX
• First Step Inc. of Wichita Falls; Wichita Falls, TX
• Friendship of Women, Inc.; Brownsville, TX
• Houston Area Women’s Center; Houston, TX
• Resource and Crisis Center of Galveston County, Inc.; Galveston, TX
• SAAFE House; Weatherford, TX
• Safer Path Family Violence Shelter; Pleasanton, TX
• The Family Place; Dallas, TX
• The Purple Door; Corpus Christi, TX
Of the 13 Swalm Grants awarded, nine are intended for infrastructure projects including physical renovations and added safety precautions. The remaining four are dedicated to flexible funding, which covers childcare costs, legal services, survivors’ (frequently forced) debt, evictions and rent.
The Crisis Center of Comal County is one of the agencies with the most urgent requests, citing it lost its emergency shelter to a fire in 2022. Since then, the organization has been housing clients in a temporary shelter. They anticipate breaking ground in April 2024 on the new shelter, which will double the organization’s capacity to 90 clients. The Swalm Grant couldn’t come at a more needed moment, the organization says, since they’ve seen a 48% increase in victims of domestic and sexual violence from 2022 to 2023.
The Dove Project in Saba, Texas, will use its Swam Grant to construct a safe and private outdoor area for residential survivors to enjoy the outside sun, air and energy. Currently, the project is housed in a retired hospital building and the immediate outdoors poses a risk of residents being seen or identified by an abuser or even run over by a car as many use the parking lot as a short cut during heavy traffic.
Safer Path Family Violence Shelter in Pleasanton, Texas, is one of the few agencies receiving a Swalm Grant for flexible funding, which it will use to purchase a new vehicle to ensure all clients can receive transportation services. The shelter currently has a seventeen-year-old refurbished van for both residential and non-residential clients that it uses for local travel. But it plans on securing a more reliable car for further distances, such as driving clients to protective order hearings and sexual assault nurse examinations in San Antonio. The organization says emergency shelter has not been below 75% capacity since the spring of 2022.
Swalm grantees are selected annually in a competitive application process by at-large TCFV board members. To track the direct impact of Swalm Grants, TCFV requires every recipient to submit a report at the end of the grant cycle detailing its use and efficiency of the funds and its effect on the survivors they serve.
About Swalm Grants
In 2005, the Swalm Family of Houston and New Ulm, Texas, gifted TCFV an endowment fund of $5,000,000 to benefit domestic violence service providers in Texas. Annually, the Finance Committee of the Board of TCFV determines a percentage to be distributed in Swalm Grants. That percentage is then allocated among the grant recipients – selected by TCFV’s Board – based on the needs described in their applications.
In accordance with the Swalm family’s wishes, each grant given must be large enough to impact the community, and applicants must be organizations whose primary focus is serving victims of domestic violence. The grants are designed to fund categories of operations not usually covered by government grants. Agencies are not allowed to apply for Swalm Grants two consecutive years in a row.
About Texas Council on Family Violence
Texas Council on Family Violence is the only 501(c) 3 nonprofit coalition in Texas dedicated solely to creating safer communities and freedom from family violence. With a state-wide reach and direct local impact, TCFV, with the collective strength of more than 1300 members, shapes public policy, equips service providers, and initiates strategic prevention efforts. Visit us online at http:// www.tcfv.org/.