PROVO, Utah (KUTV) — The Mayor of Provo is speaking out about domestic violence in Utah County, as the only domestic violence shelter in the area breaks ground on a new, larger facility in an effort to meet the growing demand for their services.
2News spoke with the executive director of The Refuge—the shelter that is expanding—and Provo Mayor Marsha Judkins to ask about the need in the community.
In the past year, Judkins said the Refuge Shelter had to turn away 774 women and children because there wasn’t enough room.
“We try to find other housing options for them. Try to get them into them in with an advocate and things like that. So we do try to work with them, but the fact is, we only have 25 beds in the current shelter, and it is simply not enough for the demand,” Judkins said.
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“If there is even one family that’s affected by this, it is a problem. But we have hundreds of families that are affected by this. It is a huge issue. We don’t even know all the victims,” Judkins said.
She took to social media Monday to shed light on the issue of domestic violence in Utah County.
“According to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, one in three homicides is related to domestic violence. Almost two in five female homicide victims were killed by a current or former intimate partner,” Judkins said in her video.
The mayor went on to say domestic violence is a leading driver of homelessness in Utah County as well. “The Refuge is actually the only domestic violence shelter that covers three counties. It’s in our area. It’s Wasatch, Utah County and Juab County,” Judkins said. In addition to her duties as mayor, Judkins sits on the board of The Refuge.
“The refuge is a nonprofit. We empower survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence,” said Ashlee Taylor, the executive director of The Refuge, “we’ve had the same facilities for over 40 years, which the population in our area has grown hugely in that time. We have just 25 beds in our emergency shelter, and unfortunately we have hundreds of survivors that reach out each year, and we just don’t have space to serve them.”
However, just recently they broke ground on a new roughly $35 million dollar facility in Orem that will feature more than five times more beds and have support services all in one place. It will take capacity from just 25 beds to 138 for the region. “And one way that Provo has helped is…they applied for and received a $1.7 million grant from HUD through Provo,” Judkins said, “So it’s through the federal government and it’s through the Housing and Urban Development Department with the federal government. And then it can pass through Provo. I was…able to acquire the large portion of money and then entities can apply to receive that money.”
“The entire project we are projecting $35 million is what we’re trying to raise…we’ve raised not quite $13 million of that yet, so we’re starting phase one. But anybody who wants to donate or help—much needed. Much needed,” Judkins said.
“This new facility will be able to expand our services, not only our emergency shelter, but also our advocacy services, our therapy services, working with those that aren’t needing shelter but are needing support in other ways, maybe through protective orders or other advocacy support,” Taylor said.
The campus will have three buildings: the emergency shelter, transitional housing, and an advocacy services center.
2News asked: will this new facility be enough to meet the needs of the region?
“Unfortunately, it [the need] continues to grow,” Taylor said, “but we know this facility will at least meet the need now and be able to expand and grow as the population grows as well.”
They hope to have the new emergency shelter up and running by fall of 2028.
Anyone wishing to get involved or wishing to learn more about support services can visit The Refuge’s website therefugeutah.org.
For more information about domestic violence services in Utah, find out more from the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, or calling or texting their 24/7 hotline: 1 (800) 897-5465.
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