By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Family Crisis Center, Inc. based in Great Bend has a mission of serving all victims of abuse in its 10 counties of service through central and southcentral Kansas. The mission got a little easier this week with the opening of a new shelter in Larned. Executive Director Kylree Graves said the Center has owned the property for more than a year. Renovations were recently completed and the Larned Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting last Thursday, just ahead of Monday's official open.
"It's just like our shelter here in Great Bend for people of domestic and sexual violence," Graves said. "It can be women, children, men. It can hold up to eight people. It's not quite as big as our Great Bend shelter."
The Center used COVID-19 funds for the renovation, and will be operating on a series of grants to keep the facility running. All-new staff was hired for the new shelter, which has an undisclosed address for security purposes. Graves is pleased to have another shelter within the region.
"We serve 10 counties with our Domestic and Sexual Violence Program, so it will be really nice to have a shelter closer to all of those counties," she said. "We have an office in Pratt, and it will be nice to have a shelter closer."
The Family Crisis Center always welcomes donations, with special attention given to full-sized hygiene products, sheets and bedding, and food. Help is always a phone call away with the 24-hour crisis line at (866) 792-1885.