New Bridge Family Shelter Remains Open, on Life Support

Contrary to what you may have read in the local paper, the New Bridge Family Shelter (NBFS) will remain open. After a setback in alleged poor leadership and lack of funding, the Texas Council on Family Violence and four surrounding family violence agencies, along with other stakeholders came together to keep the safe haven open for the victims of domestic violence in San Angelo as well as the Concho Valley.

“There was a large concern and the moment [people] found out that our former CEO had resigned, questions started coming in, and then once everyone found out the shelter was closing there were more questions and concerns,” said newly appointed President of the ICD Bridges, Inc. Board of Directors Martha Ibarra. Ibarra, also known as Sgt. Ibarra, is a criminal investigations investigator for the Tom Green County Sheriff's Department. "It's in my heart to help people who need it. I see it all of the time in my line of work, and sometimes it just takes giving them the opportunity, and that's what the shelter provides. It’s a safe place to have a chance for opportunity," Ibarra said.

Ibarra was formerly the Vice President of the Board of Directors for NBFS before CEO, President and Treasurer of the Board Kay La Boid allegedly rejected a grant issued by the state without consulting the other board members and subsequently resigned.

“I feel positive about this. I believe it is going to come together, but we still need the community’s support, and we will continue to,” Ibarra said.  “It’s going to be a continuation because we are a non-profit organization that caters to what is unfortunately (because of the high incidences of family violence in the area) a very much needed service,” she said. “We don’t get anything out of it, any kind of monies or any kind of fame; we are here because we want to help," she said. "We want everyone to know we are on track, we are going to make things better, but we can not do it if we don't have the full support of the community, by way of monetary donations or volunteers."

Ibarra has been working tirelessly to keep the shelter from closing its doors.  “We are going to try to fix everything the best that we can and not hold anything back; we will be a transparent board working together for the good of the people we serve.”

A three-inch binder on Ibarra's desk contains all of the board regulations and procedures, having taken over officially just yesterday, April 17. Ibarra is not certain at this time the exact amount of funds needed to get the shelter out of the red, but says that it will likely be substantial. "We are in need of emergency donations to keep the shelter open, and not only that but help the victims who are at the shelter now," Ibarra said. "For some of them it might be the only place they have to go that is safe."

"We have to continue paying the employees, the shelter is open 24-hours, several employees are working overtime, they’re tired, they’re to the point where they love the shelter they want to work there, but they need some help,” Ibarra said. “We want to give them that relief, they are doing the best that they can. I have to give kudos to them, because they are [dedicated]. They aren’t getting rich off of it; it’s their will to be there, so I give them a lot of respect for that.”

It’s not just money that the shelter needs right now.

New Bridge is in need of volunteers who can not only provide relief to the staff, but also provide care and compassion to the victims. In order to be a volunteer you must complete some training given at the shelter that normally only happens twice a year but, because of the urgency and desperate need of volunteers, employees that are currently on staff will help train individuals as they volunteer.

"It will be an on the job type of training that same day, and when operations are back to normal the individual responsible for training can at that time complete the remainder of volunteers' training," Ibarra explained. "We are also in need of board members," she said. 

Currently the ICD Bridges, Inc. Board of Director's consist of the following: Martha Ibarra, President; Jeri Slone, Vice President; James Mitchell, Treasurer; and Liz Tafoya, Secretary Directors include: Bonnie Stone, Martha Tafoya, Katlynn Cox and Chief of Police Tim Vasquez.

The board of directors is recruiting additional members to increase its number to a preferred fifteen.

According to the Texas Council on Family Violence website, in the state of Texas last year 23,311 adults and children were sheltered, 61,119 were receiving some type of counseling or legal advocacy as a result of domestic violence, 14,801 victims were unmet requests for shelter, and the year before that 119 women were killed as a result of domestic violence. If you look up family or domestic violence statistics in the United States, be prepared to read through a rather lengthy report breaking down the many different definitions of the many different types of violent crimes committed against victims, everything from aggravated assault, sexual assault, robbery, rape and murder.

Around the world, at least one in three victims of family/domestic violence has been beaten, raped or otherwise abused in his or her lifetime, most often the abuser is a member of the family or someone who is trusted.

In 2013, San Angelo police responded to approximately 400 domestic violence calls per month—more than 10 per day. Those calls resulted in 100 charges filed.

A year ago, following a murder-suicide that began as a domestic violence call for service for his deputies, Tom Green County Sheriff David Jones offered a glimpse into the problem a shelter like New Bridge addresses.  Jones attributed the rise in domestic violence to more awareness and to it being a societal problem that cannot be solved with law enforcement alone. More ominous, Jones said, domestic disturbance calls are more violent today than they were in the 1980s. “It’s a fact that more people out there are using firearms to solve their problems,” Jones said.

If a woman is threatened by domestic violence and needs to remove herself and her children from the situation, where will she go? New Bridge offers that shelter.

If you are interested in providing support of any kind to the New Bridge Family Shelter, contact Martha Ibarra by e-mail at:  [email protected] or Jeri Slone at [email protected]