Since the 2020 hurricane season a Lake Charles shelter for domestic and sexual violence victims hasn’t been able to house residents. Executive director of Oasis A Safe Haven, Kathy Manuel said on Monday that they’ll reopen their doors to a completely renovated shelter.
“We have been still providing all the services that we always did until the hurricane, except for physically housing residents here at the shelter,” said Manuel.
Manuel said survivors were either housed in hotels or placed in shelters elsewhere, which presented a security risk.
“It’s not the safest and I don’t believe that they get all of the advocacy that they could get if they were here at our location because then there’s 24-hour-a-day staff to meet whenever you want to meet,” said Manuel.
Often victims are hesitant to seek shelter if they’ll be housed in another city. Manuel hopes now they’ll take that bold step towards recovery and seek shelter in their renovated facility.
“A lot of people won’t leave if they have to leave the area, they want to make things as stable for their children as possible and even if it’s just a single individual they may have a job,” said Manuel.
The shelter was gutted after the storms and now it has new floors, walls, and a new security system.
For more information visit oasisasafehaven.org
To find a shelter near you visit domesticshelters.org
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