SOS: SAVE OUR SHELTER

SOS: Save Our Shelter!

 

My name is Sydney Allred and I am the Executive Director of the Fremont County Alliance Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, a 501(c)3 agency. We have been serving victims and their families in Fremont County Wyoming and the Wind River Indian Reservation since 1981 and have sheltered over 1,500 families totaling in over 4,000 people since we were founded.

 

OUR MISSION

 

The mission of the Fremont County Alliance Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault is dedicated to the elimination of personal and societal violence and the empowerment of victims and their children.

 

OUR VISION

 

The Fremont County Alliance believes that violence against individuals and their children results from use of force or threats to achieve and maintain control over others in intimate relationships. We recognize that abuses of power in society foster battering by perpetuating conditions which condone violence against victims and children. Therefore, it is the goal of the Alliance to work for major social changes necessary to eliminate both personal and societal violence in our lives.

 

Our work includes providing safe spaces and advocacy; generating alternatives in a supportive non-judgmental atmosphere; offering and improving public education; policy development and innovative legislation; and efforts to eradicate social conditions which contribute to violence against victims and children.

 

Now, we need help to keep serving the community and we need help keeping survivors safe. . . .

 

Our shelter, the only domestic violence and sexual assault crisis shelter in the entire county, flooded last year and the damage was catastrophic.

 

The damage meant we have had to close our doors at the shelter until we can raise enough funds to rebuild. Yes, we have been able to keep meeting survivors needs but it has been incredibly expensive to shelter off site. This also means we are not as easily accessible to the folks we are trying to keep safe. Our goal is to rebuild a facility that will serve Fremont County for another 40+ years. Some of our goal includes creating a fully ADA accessible unit as well as a Pet Friendly unit for families.

 

COVID-19 has impacted our ability to fundraise, leaving us in a position where we need help if we are going to continue to provide the same services we always have before. Our clients come to us needing help, and we are so lucky to have the support of our community as we meet these needs but all our services are free and confidential so gathering the funds needed to bring our dream into reality has been difficult.

 

We are working with a local contractor on developing the facility and have a goal of breaking ground in Spring 2022 and have gathered $150,000 in funds already but will need a bit more to get the facility up and running.

 

Our agency has been able to be a beacon of hope and light to many during their darkest hours, and now we need help to light the way forward!

 

Like a phoenix our building will rise from disaster, offering hope and safety in a world that desperately needs both right now.

 

With Solidarity and Hope,

 

Sydney Allred, Donna Shaner (Associate Director), Kathy Treybig (Shelter Coordinator), Shannon O'Neal (Outreach Coordinator),  and Chirstina Wright (Lander Advocate)