In a recent article published by the Farmville Herald, news surfaced that the Madeline's House facility located in Not¬toway, Va. is being forced out of its location. The facility sits on 1,500 acres of land but only uses a small area. However, that 1,500 has been sold by Not¬taway County for the use of the U.S. State Department Foreign Affairs Security Training Center (FASTC) project. The project is expected to attract thousands of students for training a year and viewed as a major economic development success for Notto-way County.
According to the Madeline's House official website, the or¬ganization "is a non-profit or¬ganization, providing compre¬hensive services for individuals and families experiencing do¬mestic and sexual abuse." The organization depends solely on the support from lo¬cal sources such as civic groups, religious groups, businesses and others. Their mission is to inspire the victims of domestic or sexual abuse to survive and regain control over their lives. Madeline's House is a 33-bed safe house. They not only offer a safe place for victims but offer "life-saving and life-changing" services as well.
Longwood University As¬sociate Professor of Sociology Dr. Carl Riden said via email, "I think it's a devastating loss for this region of the Common¬wealth. To my knowledge, there is no facility or program in line to take its place. This will leave women and children at grave risk. If we truly care about pro¬tecting the most vulnerable among us, then things need to change. I wonder about our pri¬orities as a society." The Farmville Herald report¬ed that Madeline's House is the only safe house for the counties of Buckingham, Cumberland, Lunenburg, Charlotte, Dinwid¬die, Halifax, Prince Edward, Amelia, Brunswick, Mecklen¬burg, Nottoway and Powhatan. Madeline's House has appealed for an adjustment of 500 feet to both local and federal govern¬ments. This small adjustment would make it so the project was just shy of the project lay¬out; however, both appeals have been rejected.
The Farmville Herald quoted Emily Marshall, executive di¬rector for Madeline's House, saying, "While this will be a big boost for the local economies, it comes with a dire cost to 12 counties in Southside Virginia who have come to rely on Mad¬eline's House as part of their rescue infrastructure for victims of domestic and sexual abuse residing in the area."
Marshall explained there are three ways to help. One is to do¬nate to a restricted fund to help cover renovation or relocation costs not already covered by the "minimal assistance anticipated from the levels of government involved in this major project."
Another way to aid Madeline's House is to join a letter-writing campaign to certain individuals and government offices that can help. Finally, Marshall encour¬aged anyone to please contact her at 434-292-1077 if they know of a potential facility for Madeline's House to use.
In a phone interview with Marshall, she said they have already looked at some possible facilities in Lunenburg, but the cost was too expensive and not central enough to their needs. She also said they are looking into renting a facility as well. Marshall said ideally, they are looking for a couple of acres of land "off the beaten path" or a building to use. When asked what college students could do to help out the cause, Marshall said writing letters to legislators would be very helpful. Individuals can call for a letterwriting kit which would tell them who to write to and what to mention in the letter. Marshall also suggested that organizations such as fraternities or sororities could hold fundraisers for their capital campaign in the fall. As of right now, the only compensation that has been offered to Madeline's House is the cost of the windows for the facility. "We'll need at least half a million to do anything," said Marshall.
The eviction date for the facility could be as soon as six months or as far out as two years. Marshall understands it is a very large span of time, but there are many factors that come into play, and they, unfortunately, do not know the specific factors. This makes giving answers difficult, but Marshall stressed that they must prepare for the worst in case that is what comes their way. In this case, the worst would be an eviction notice for their facility.
