COURT HOUSE — A local non-profit group that provides services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault is expanding its ability to help those in need.
The Coalition Against Rape and Abuse (C.A.R.A.) offers its clients a variety of free services including education, counseling, advocacy, legal aid and a residential program that provides emergency housing for up to 90 days.
A new project was recently approved by the Middle Township Zoning Board that will enable C.A.R.A. to substantially increase its housing services.
According to C.A.R.A. Director Kristen Raring Bixby, the facility is currently licensed by the state Department of Community Affairs to handle up to 18 individuals. The group’s Web site states the residential program is a service provided to single women and families. It is ideal for individuals that can no longer continue to live in their current situation due to domestic violence or threat of domestic violence by their partner, roommate or family member.
On Jan. 8, the zoning board unanimously granted the Court House-based group preliminary and final site plan approval to construct a community center and three transitional housing duplexes, which will allow C.A.R.A. to care for up to an additional 36 people in need. The exact location of the agency’s facility is not released to the public for safety and security reasons.
The board made a determination that the abuse shelter, which is the only such facility in southern New Jersey, was an inherently beneficial use to the community. Therefore, it also granted a use variance and multiple waivers from site plan standards including those for buffers and parking.
Bixby said the new Independence Program would be for individuals who are working, but need some time to become more financially secure to go on to the next step of establishing permanent housing. She said it would be an alternative for victims who might otherwise rely on welfare and other social services.
In a Herald article from two years ago, Bixby said that C.A.R.A. ran a pilot Independence Program in two two-bedroom apartments that it leased.
C.A.R.A. will “see how it works,” Bixby told the Herald at that time, to determine if it is making clients more independent and financially secure, and if they are willing to take advantage of it. In the future, Bixby said then, if it does prove successful, CARA may get involved in building and owning its own housing.
Two years later, it appears that the pilot program was a success and C.A.R.A.’s plans to build its own housing have become a reality.
The project has seen major support from other groups in the community. St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Stone Harbor and its This & That Thrift Shop in Rio Grande recently donated $25,000 towards C.A.R.A.’s housing project, which has received donations totaling $400,000 of the project’s $900,000 cost.
In addition to financial support, C.A.R.A. also accepts wish list donations for its residential programs including: food cards, deodorants, soaps, shampoos, conditioners, phone cards, razors, Pampers (all sizes), Pull-Ups (all sizes), combs, brushes and feminine, cleaning and paper products. For questions on other ways you can help or to utilize C.A.R.A.’s services, call (609) 522-6489 or toll free at (877) 294-2272.
More information is available at www.cara-cmc.org
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com
