New facility to aid women in crisis
More than 198,300 cases of family violence were recorded in Texas in 2012, with women representing 73 percent of the victims, according to the Texas Council on Family Violence.
That same year, 114 women were killed as a result of domestic abuse.
More than 11,000 adults and 14,000 children sought shelter from violent relatives, and the numbers represent just a snapshot of the seriousness of a problem that plagues our society.
North Texas has been fortunate to have shelters to provide temporary refuge and counseling for women and their children who have been the victims, but the council’s figures show that 21 percent of adults seeking shelter in 2012 were turned away for lack of space.
This week, North Texas gained another valuable resource to help women in crisis, and it is a project of other caring women who set out to build not just a shelter but also a community.
The Gatehouse at Grapevine is a $28 million facility sitting on 61 acres that is a faith-based residential program designed to house dozens of women and their families and help them break the cycles of abuse and poverty.
It is an outgrowth of projectHandUp, a small group started by Lisa Rose to help other women in the community face various challenges. Rose is board president of the new program.
“This has been a dream for so long,” Rose said. “The Gatehouse will be a passageway to a new beginning for these women — a safe, guarded, protected way.”
This new “community,” made up of “neighborhoods” of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, will have a chapel, a general store, a conference center and counseling centers that will offer women and their children “new paths to reverse the endless cycles of abuse, poverty, homelessness and helplessness,” Rose said.
Local business leaders, along with Gov. Greg Abbott and area mayors, were on hand for the grand opening Thursday of this welcome addition to services for abused and struggling women in North Texas.
Although The Gatehouse has obviously received a great deal of support, it is hoping to receive more from the larger community.
For more information, visit gatehousegrapevine.com.
This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 8:30 PM with the headline "New facility to aid women in crisis."