ATTLEBORO — New Hope, the city-based regional agency that assists victims of domestic and sexual assault, has raised over $7 million to build a new shelter.
New Hope officials made the announcement Friday night at their campaign celebration at Lake Pearl in Wrentham.
The Framing the Future Campaign has been raising money to build a confidential emergency shelter in Northern Bristol County for families experiencing domestic violence. It will be the agency’s third shelter.
The new 14-bedroom, 11,000-square-foot shelter will offer survivors a temporary home where they can feel safe, respected, and heard, so that the healing process can begin, New Hope says.
Each bedroom will have a private bath for families, including two ADA accessible bathrooms.
The new shelter will also have dedicated education space, a commercial-sized kitchen, large play space for age-appropriate child development activities, and living space that accommodates group activities, as well as private space to be alone.
One thing survivors often comment on is the lack of privacy in shelter life, New Hope says.
The agency plans to offer residents multiple support services, including therapeutic counseling and case management, as well as access to services available in the broader community.
Several large grants helped the organization exceed their goal, including a $2 million federal earmark that U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Newton, was instrumental in helping to secure, a $2.8 million state grant, and $500,000 from the City of Attleboro.
When the federal money was announced last March, New Hope launched its public fundraising campaign.
Several private foundations and individuals made gifts to the campaign, including the Kraft Philanthropies, Bristol County Savings Bank, the Spier Family Foundation, and the Balfour Foundation.
“This campaign makes possible not just safe housing, but a welcoming and nurturing home for rebuilding lives,” New Hope Executive Director Marcia Szymanski said.
In Massachusetts, one in three women and one in five men report having experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
New Hope, a 501©(3) non-profit organization, serves the 41 communities in Bristol, Norfolk and Worcester counties and receives over 1,000 hotline calls each year for assistance .
It has two older shelters in Southeastern and South Central Massachusetts in confidential locations where women and their children can find protection from their abusers.
