Cedar Rapids Weather
State Budget Cuts Worry Domestic Abuse AdvocatesBy Jami Brinton, Reporter
JOHNSON COUNTY - Governor Chet Culver has asked every state agency to make cuts. But victim advocacy groups worry that without enough funding Iowans won't have the help they need to escape danger.
A woman who asked to remain anonymous wants the governor to know stories like hers, to compel him to find four million dollars in the state budget to help domestic abuse victims. "There was one night that he was going to throw me out of the house and he choked me. And at that time I thought I was dead and I thought if that was the only way that I can leave is to die, please do it because I wanted out so bad. It was that dangerous " That was the night this woman who says her husband abused her for years, decided it was time to get help. "All the sudden I was like "I can't do this anymore. I don't want to live like this any more. It's too dangerous so that gave me the courage to leave." So she left. "At that time you're so terrified you can't think right. You're ready to jump out of your skin because you're so afraid." A friend told her about the Domestic Violence Intervention Program, a safe haven of sorts, for individuals like the woman in this story who need help breaking the cycle of domestic violence. Last year alone, the center helped more than 1,900 victims of domestic abuse and fielded 18,000 calls for help. "People don't call a domestic violence program until the violence has escalated until they know their safety might be in jeopardy," said Kristie Fortmann-Doser, Domestic Violence Intervention Program Director. Women like the one in this story say the center's workers, whom she calls her angels, helped her get her life back and gave her the gumption to go on. "Here's these women that were a lot shorter than I am and getting in between you and the perpetrator and acting like little bull dogs." She wants Governor Culver to find four million dollars or more to continue to provide the services that she says saved her life. The state cut the Domestic Violence Intervention Program's budget six years ago and there's been a 90 percent increase for their services since then. They don't know what will happen if they lose the four million in state funding. More Good Stuff |
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