By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Cocoon shelter has seen the need for its services soar since the COVID pandemic hit.
The domestic and sexual violence agency has experienced a 15% increase in requests for services, including emergency shelter, 24/7 crisis intervention, medical and legal advocacy, and safety planning.
The severity of the violence being reported is also increasing, according to Cocoon Director Kathy Mull.
So Mull approached the Wood County Commissioners about using COVID relief funds to help the Cocoon meet the increasing demand for services.
Last week, the commissioners voted to give the Cocoon $800,000 over the next four years from the American Rescue Plan Act. Wood County has received a total of $25.4 million in the COVID relief funds.
The commissioners consulted with a law firm in Columbus that specializes in the relief funds to make sure the Cocoon request qualified for the ARPA money.
“They confirmed that it does,” Wood County Administrator Andrew Kalmar said on Friday.
In her request to the commissioners, Mull explained that as the COVID stay at home orders were lifted, the Cocoon also saw a 50% increase in sexual violence reports.
In 2020, the agency served 747 survivors. Between January and November in 2021, the agency served 725.
While the needs are increasing, the traditional funding has decreased, Mull said. The Cocoon funding was cut by $185,000 from the Victims of Crime Act in 2021, and will be cut another $125,000 this year, she said.
As funds become scarce, the ability to provide adequate 24/7 staffing to meet the needs is becoming increasingly difficult, Mull said.
The $200,000 a year for the next four years will be used for:
- $98,577 for 24/7 shelter support. The Cocoon wants to continue the round-the-clock crisis line and emergency shelter to make sure survivors are immediately connected with help. Research has shown that shelters that do not provide onsite staff 24 hours a day increases the likelihood of survivors leaving shelter and returning to unsafe homes.
- $52,325 for domestic violence community based services. Each survivor is assigned an advocate who works with them one-on-one as they rebuild their lives. The Cocoon currently has two full-time domestic violence advocates who are responsible for responding to the crisis line during the day and providing the ongoing follow up care and advocacy. Currently each advocate is working with more than 60 survivors on an ongoing basis. The funding would pay for a third full-time advocate to assist the growing number of survivors seeking help.
- $49,096 for a housing advocate. The Cocoon received grant funding through the Ohio Domestic Violence Network to hire a housing advocate to help meet the housing needs of survivors. Without additional funding, the Cocoon will not be able to continue the housing program, Mull said. During the first half of 2021, the agency helped 61 survivors toward the goal of securing safe and stable housing with furniture for their families. By August of last year, 21 survivors had secured housing where they could afford the rent and utilities.
The Cocoon has also asked the City of Bowling Green for assistance from the city’s COVID relief funds. Mull said a third of the survivors seeking help from the agency are residents of Bowling Green.
“We know there’s a big need for survivors in our community,” Mull said to City Council in November.
The city has not acted yet on that request for funding.
