A shelter may be closed in southern California, providing services to women who are facing domestic violence and drug use, after canceling federal financing of shelter.
Mary Al -Rahma Center In San Bernardino offers a variety of support services including food, clothing, support services and transitional living facilities for men, women and children displaced.
A mother said in the shelter he did not want to get to know.
The woman said that she and her three children were subjected to verbal and physical assault at the hands of her ex -husband.
“Where this happens in front of them and they are attacked and neglected, I knew I needed to do something because my children are my first priority,” she said to Ktla. “I realized that there was a mistake with me that I have been for many years and only asked God to help me.”
Eight years after the abuse, I found the force to leave and was accepted Mary Haven, A program that offers shelter for women displaced with young children.
“Many women come here come from a very difficult situation,” explained by Dan Flores, Executive Director of the Marie Mercy Center. “They are survivors of domestic violence.”
For Berbora Bennett, a mother of four children, she struggled with drug use.
“After my relationship with my father, I was stuck in drugs for six consecutive years,” Bennett said.
After being convicted and service time, she said she was the vigilance invitation she needed to change her life. She and her children lived in Mary Haven, where Bennett works to rebuild her life and provide stability to her children.
“They live here full time to provide housing for all mothers and children,” Flores said. “We offer essentials from clothes to bed to food, and we also provide a lot of twisted services such as consulting, supportive services, treatment and pre -school for children.”
However, as of April 1, Flores said he was notified via e -mail that the financing they received from the federal government would be cut back from March 24.
Flores said that the cutting of the grant arrived three months before the decision, leaving the attachment in a decisive connection, as 10 mothers were housed with 24 children in the facility and many of them had no other place.
Flores said: “Many of us are in the non -profit sector, as we see what is happening at the federal level, we wonder whether these grants will provide the next fiscal year or not.”
For the women who said they were stuck in a long -standing position, the Mary Al -Rahma Center provided them with invaluable support such as jobs, financial training and a second opportunity to rebuild and improve their lives.
“Since I was, here I graduated from high school,” Bennett said. “I am in the college now.”
“It is not frightening to lose a home and stable for our children somewhere,” said the unidentified mother. “For many of us, women and mothers, we needed this.”
Flores said they are now scrambling to find a solution because they are working with other non -profit organizations to find any resources you can receive to fill the financing gap.