Great Circle, a behavioral health non-profit that runs women’s and youth shelters in Doniphan and Poplar Bluff, has been awarded $38,500 in federal CARES Act grant funding to expand programming.
The funds are part of an Emergency Solutions Grant administered by the Missouri Department of Social Services and the Missouri Housing Development Commission.
“We’re really excited about it, and we’re hoping to see really great things from this,” said Michael Turner, who serves as Great Circle’s associate director of community-based services in Southeast Missouri.
The organization, formerly known as the Ozark Family Resource Agency, has operated a shelter in Doniphan since about 2003, Turner said.
“It’s a domestic violence shelter for women and kiddos over there, and we also can house homeless women and children in that facility as well,” he said.
According to the organization, the Doniphan shelter serves more than 100 homeless women and children escaping domestic violence annually.
With the grant funding, the Doniphan shelter will get a new parking lot, a new entrance with stairs and a ramp, and an expanded outdoor recreation area.
“In Doniphan, we really needed an additional entrance to our building to cut down on traffic in and out of the shelter,” Turner explained.
An expanded outdoor recreation area at the facility, Turner said, is an important addition given the current COVID-19 environment.
“We used to be able to go to local attractions, but with COVID, we try to cut down on any type of exposure risk, so we do as much on campus as we can,” he said. “That means alternative recreation areas are really important.”
Great Circle opened an emergency youth shelter in Poplar Bluff in 2018, Turner said, which serves more than 130 children annually.
“It’s a nine-bed facility and it’s for kiddos that either are in foster care or their families are experiencing some type of crisis. We’re able to take them in for up to 30 days, until either their caseworker can find a place for them to go or their families get their crisis resolved,” he explained.
Just like in Doniphan, the Poplar Bluff shelter will benefit from an expanded outdoor recreation area paid for by the grant.
“We’re going to purchase some outdoor recreation equipment, and we’re also going to be able to invest in other outdoor space we have there,” said Turner, who noted it is “important for us to be able to provide alternative spaces that we’re able to utilize.”
Also funded through the grant, both facilities will offer a new life-skills curriculum for residents.
“With the pandemic, there’s a whole new host of issues a lot of families are dealing with, and it’s really important for us to try to help and do as much as we can for our families,” Turner said. “With this grant, another thing we’ve done is add a full life skills curriculum for all ages, and it will be utilized in all of our programs.”
The grant, Turner said, is a “spend and reimburse” type.
“Once then money is spent, then we’ll apply for reimbursement,” he said.
Currently, Great Circle is seeking bids on the construction work and has been in contact with local contractors.
“We’ve already purchased the life skills programs, so we’re just waiting for that curriculum to come in,” he added.
The construction work, Turner noted, is expected to be completed sometime in August.
The improvements, he said, will be a great benefit to those needing services at the shelters.
“I really want to be able to provide a place for them that they can come to and they can work toward finding that peace and that new normal they are seeking,” he said. “We’re going to work with them and try to get them to a better place, and having the best facilities and programs available to them is only going to increase that success.
“I’m excited to see what this is going to mean to our families and kiddos.”