The need for help touches everyone in one form to another, and a local center sees this need and is doing something to help fill the void.
The Family Crisis Center of Great Bend is expanding its reach and services to better serve the people of this community and beyond.
The non-profit agency is seated in Great Bend and announced this week a big-picture plan to significantly grow the reach and effectiveness of the organization for years to come, said Executive Director Laura Patzner.
“The Family Crisis Center started with a shelter for victims of domestic and sexual abuse, and we still offer that service to this day,” Patzner Said. “But over the years, we have continued to grow into a multi-faceted organization with two programs under our umbrella. We still operate the original Domestic and Sexual Violence Center, but have also added the Child Advocacy Center that specializes in assisting children who are victimized, as well as their families, as they navigate the judicial system and find safety after the incident.”
Both programs are headquartered from the Great Bend location at 1924 Broadway, and each program welcomed a new staff member in the last few months.
A leadership team was established to better support the advocates on staff and ensure that services for both programs are meeting the needs that exist in the community.
The agency’s Pratt location recently moved to a new facility, providing more space and better access to its clients along with resources to hire an additional outreach advocate to serve south central Kansas.
Staff members also worked to open a third location in Larned, for which a new outreach advocate and a Sexual Violence Program advocate were hired.
“With the expansion of our agency and its services, we needed more staff to serve the unfortunately large need in our area,” Patzner said. “These new positions will create more access to services for survivors and our leadership team is focusing on more visibility to make sure survivors and community members know we are here and how we can help.”
One of the new position created to serve both of the Family Crisis Center’s programs is the community engagement coordinator, who will be responsible for recruiting, training, and supporting volunteers. Great Bend resident Joanne Wondra was selected for the position, with big goals for expanding awareness for the agency.
Another position was filled by Rachel Angel, when she was rehired as the program director for the Child Advocacy Center. Angel had worked for the Crisis Center for over a year as a family advocate, and has a master’s degree in criminal justice with a focus on victim advocacy. She has also completed the ChildFirst training for forensic interviewers, along with the Kansas Academy for Victim Assistants.
With the agency fully staffed, the Family Crisis Center is able to expand its services once again, Patzner said.
The newest service added to the ever-growing list available to victims is AllState Financial Empowerment, which addresses financial abuse.
The center was established 30 years ago, and it was established to provide safety to families that could not find it in their own homes.
Since that time, it is estimated that the center has provided services to over 25,000 survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in central and south-central Kansas.
With so many new faces and services, the leadership team for the Family Crisis Center will hold a meet-and-greet event at 3 p.m. Thursday in the conference room at the organization’s headquarters located at 1924 Broadway in Great Bend.
Refreshments will be served, and media representatives will have exclusive opportunities for interviews with the staff. All are welcome, and no RSVP is required.
For more information about the Family Crisis Center or either of its two programs, the Domestic and Sexual Violence Center or the Child Advocacy Center, go online at www.familycrisiscntr.org or call 620-793-9941.