On June 4, 2017 The Family Place gave 200 supporters a first look at the new Ann Moody Place shelter that is scheduled to open July 5.
The 50,000-square-foot facility will house battered women and children and will also serve as the agency’s new headquarters.
The facility is furnished with 47 beds in bright, airy rooms plus a kennel for up to 10 dogs and 10 cats, a critical amenity since many women won’t leave an abuser if they can’t take a beloved pet with them.
The new complex provides counseling services for residents and nonresidents, medical and dental clinics, job training, a kids’ art room and common areas for residents to gather, an amenity that was requested by clients. It will also house the agency’s teen education program about bullying and sexual violence.
The separate Family Place Safe Campus, which opened in 2000, has 111 beds and operates at full capacity, CEO Paige Flink said.With the debut of Ann Moody Place, the agency now has 158 beds for women and children plus 22 beds at a separate men’s shelter that opened May 1.
“We saw the growing need in our community and are working to meet it,” Flink said. “Domestic violence is not just a women’s issue, it’s everyone’s issue.”
Spanning two buildings and a courtyard, the new center is named for Galveston philanthropist Ann Moody. Led by her daughter, Frances “Francie” Moody Dahlberg, the Moody Foundation gave $5 million in October 2015 to launch a $13 million campaign to build it. The agency broke ground on May 1, 2016.
In addition to the Moody Foundation, lead donors that gave at least $1 million include the Boone Family Foundation, Highland Capital Management, Perot Foundation, the Rees-Jones Foundation and Harold Simmons Foundation.
The expansion will create 32 new jobs, and Ann Moody Place will serve 2,000 clients a year.
Since 1978, The Family Place has counseled some 225,000 clients, provided emergency shelter to more than 22,000 women, children and men, and answered 550,000-plus calls for help.