APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Harbor House Domestic Abuse Programs in Appleton unveiled an updated facility Tuesday. The agency celebrated a multi-million-dollar expansion.
This big reveal comes after more than a year of fundraising, followed by a year and a half of construction.
“It’s been a long haul, but it’s been all worth it,” said Harbor House executive director Beth Schnorr.
“We have a wonderful facility that is trauma-informed, dignified and safe for our clients.”
The domestic abuse shelter outgrew its space and, in 13 months, Harbor House reached its “Building Hope” Capital Campaign goal of $4 million.
Before the expansion, Wendy Gehl, Harbor House program services director, tells FOX 11 the agency was consistently over capacity 30 percent of the year.
“The need, unfortunately, in our community, is really great. We’ve seen that stark reminders of the individuals that have lost their lives because of domestic violence, whether they’re adults or children.”
Wisconsin’s Department of Justice says law enforcement responded to almost 30,000 domestic violence incidents across the state from 2013 to 2017.
Harbor House serves both Outagamie and Calumet Counties and, in 2018 alone, the agency helped about 1,400 survivors, so Gehl says this expansion was much needed.
“When we had more people staying in the shelter than we had space for, then it went into our program space, and so the individuals that would come for individual appointments, come to support group then we were displaced with them.”
Harbor House expanded from 55 beds in 13 rooms to now 68 beds in 32 rooms. At one point last year, staff says more than 89 survivors took shelter there.
Revamping the center also includes the addition of quiet waiting rooms, an advocacy center and a dedicated meeting space for one-on-one appointments, offering clients more privacy.
“They deserve safety, they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect,” said Schnorr. “That’s really the main thing that we want.”
The transformation also includes a brand-new garage, kitchen and a private space for taking crisis calls.
Harbor House staff says it takes about 32 calls a day and handled more than 11-thousand calls on the 24/7 hotline last year.
