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Domestic Violence Center To Stay

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By JOSH POLTILOVE and SHERRI ACKERMAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 1, 2008

TAMPA - A Tampa center for domestic violence victims will survive at least another eight months, thanks to $350,000 from the Children's Board of Hillsborough County.

"It is a huge relief," said Nikki Daniels, executive director of the Family Justice Center. "We had heard from so many victims, 'Oh my gosh, what are we going to do without you guys being there?'"

The justice center opened in October 2006 as a one-stop location offering victims counseling, help with filing court injunctions, food stamp applications and emergency housing, among other needs.

The only center of its kind in Florida, it was modeled after a U.S. Department of Justice program and funded by a $1.1 million start-up grant. The facility helped nearly 2,300 victims in the past year, but it never attracted local financial support.

Organizers were prepared to close Feb. 8, but will now have enough money to stay open at least through Sept. 30, the end of the center's fiscal year.

"It doesn't make sense to let it go down," Luanne Panacek, executive director of the Children's Board, said after the board agreed Thursday to allot $350,000 to keep the center going, at least for now.

The board, which is funded by the county and provides financial and technical support to programs that benefit children, talked for days about options before agreeing to fund the center.

"Other things won't get money now, and that's the drawback," Panacek said. "But in my heart, this is the right thing to do."

During the next 90 days, the board will work with justice center leaders to identify other funding sources to keep the facility at 9309 N. Florida Ave. open indefinitely, Panacek said.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691 or jpoltilove@tampatrib.com.

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