Pocono News Section

Women's Resources Dedicates Building

Women's Resources Dedicates Building - Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 3:38PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Thursday, Feb 18, 2010 @ 03:38pm EST
DELAWARE WATER GAP, MONROE COUNTY - It was a special day for people who help domestic violence victims in the Poconos. Women's Resources of Monroe County dedicated the new Frances Hughes Crisis Counseling Center and celebrated the renovation of Shelters donated by Sanofi Pasteur.

Among the crowd of donors who cut the ribbon on the new crisis center, there was a boy. It was a boy who lost his mother to domestic violence. Jeannette Claudio's husband murdered her in 2006. Her best friend Charlene Roll said, "She's still alive in our hearts."

Roll was glad the community came together to help Women's Resources. She said, "This is a good opportunity for the community to come help them build more and put out the word to protect other women so Jeannette's death won't be in vain."

The new center is the result of the Safe Haven Capital Campaign. Executive Director Jennifer Grube said it has raised about two million dollars so far. She smiled, "Today is utterly awesome!"

Today marks the completion of two out of three pieces of the Safe Haven Campaign. There's still a shelter to renovate to renovate and some security issues to take care of - so they need to collect about 600-thousand more dollars. Grube said, "We're very confident that the community will help us to do that."

Roll hopes people will help so that every domestic violence victim knows they have a safe, peaceful place to find hope.

If you would like to donate call 570-424-2093.