FavorHouse of Northwest Florida has been making a safe space for domestic violence victims since 1980.

The $104,500 IMPACT 100 grant the nonprofit received in 2013 is helping the domestic violence shelter expand its embrace to include their clients pets as well. FavorHouse also received an IMPACT grant in 2010.

Fear for the safety of their pets are one of the reasons victims cite for staying in an abusive situation.

Sue Hand, director of FavorHouse, says the grant will go toward creating a transitional space for women who are trying to get back into the community and kennel area for pets.

The transitional facility also will allow FavorHouse to create a space for trafficked women, a need that has grown more prevalent in recent years, Hand says.

In 2012, FavorHouse got 13 calls from either local or federal law enforcement asking if they had space for trafficked women. The closest such shelter is Refuge House in Tallahassee, Hand says.

Hand has FDLE has not released similar numbers for 2013 yet.

“I think it’s a larger concern than a lot of people realize,” she says. “These women are in our labor pool, they are cleaning our hotel and motel rooms...working in salons...or doing migrant work in the day and they’ll have to perform sexual services in the evening.”

Many have substance abuse issues and often they have criminal histories, often related to things their controller has ordered them to do.

Cooperation with federal authorities can sometimes give these women a chance at a clean slate, Hand says.

“It’s something we need to start addressing. We are in the (Interstate) 10 corridor, so we know we are a drop off point and the Emerald Coast (including the area east of Sandestin) is a hotbed of (that) activity.”

WANT TO HELP?

The White Rose Luncheon is May 16 at Sanders Beach Corrine Jones Community Center.

The luncheon is the signature event for FavorHouse of Northwest Florida, a not-for-profit organization providing shelter and services to domestic violence victims (women, children and men) and counseling to batterers in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Individual tickets for the event are $50. All proceeds go to FavorHouse’s domestic violence shelter program.

To learn more, call 434-1177 or visit  favorhouse.org.