Domestic abuse victims could soon lose care they rely on - CBS4 - WHBF Quad Cities, IL-IA News Weather Sports

Domestic abuse victims could soon lose care they rely on

By: Jillian Wilson

jwilson@cbs4qc.com

One in four women are victims of sexual or domestic abuse.

Now the care that so many of them rely on could soon be taken away.

How Iowa state cutbacks are spreading resources at a local YWCA paper thin.

The Clinton Y helps more than 800 abuse victims each year.

One woman says it's programs like the Y that helped her family escape a scary reality.

"When the girls told me he had been molesting them, that pushed me over the edge," says Amy, a domestic abuse victim.

From the outside, Amy is your typical quad city mom, but Amy is a victim of domestic abuse.

"I had a dog, 5 kids and a minivan, and we started over," says Amy. 

When Amy found out her husband had been sexually abusing her three daughters, she knew she had to get out. That's when resources like the YWCA changed her life.

"When you're in that state of mind and you just don't understand the trauma the children have suffered, they're the only ones that really get it. They understand," says Amy.  

Amy's not the only one worried about the men, women, and children, affected by domestic abuse.

"We can't lose those services. We have to keep them going because unfortunately there are more and more people every day that need our programs," says Lori Freudenberg, Executive Director, YWCA.

Those victims now have fewer options for help. New state cuts will spread out those resources even thinner.

"We want to be able to provide those immediate services and not have to wait for an advocate to come maybe from Davenport or Iowa City," says Freudenberg.

Now they need to raise 100 thousand dollars to keep the doors open.

They're asking fifty thousand from the Clinton City council and they'll ask the public to help out with the rest.

Amy says it's the support of the y that keeps her family going.

"They held my hand all the way through and they constantly said we're not going to leave you," says Amy.

Tommorrow, Clinton officials  will decide if they want to give the money the YWCA.