The Upper Cumberland Family Justice Center celebrated ten years of serving victims and combating domestic violence during a Friday event.
The center brings together resources for the domestic violence victim under one roof. District Attorney Bryant Dunaway said the anniversary means success in standing up for victims and against domestic violence.
“There’s lots of moving parts,” Dunaway said. “Victims have, sometimes, they’re uncooperative, sometimes they’re not and there’s different reasons for that. And so, the personal touch is really necessary in domestic violence cases to connect with the victim. And this organization really helps us do that.”
Amy Stockwell was hired by the center two years before its doors were opened. As the Center’s Director, she said the community’s support of the center means a lot to her.
“You first open the doors and you don’t know if anybody will show up,” Stockwell said. Every year, we increase the number of clients we’re able to serve, so we feel like that’s a report card from the community.
Stockwell said the need keeps growing, as the center sees some 250 new clients each year. Last year, there were over 1,600 total clients.
“I think and I hope it makes things easier,” Stockwell said. “The fact that you can walk in without an appointment, that there’s over 30 agencies that have agreed to work with clients here so you just have to get to one place. Then, we’ll let you know about the resources that are available and guide you through this process if those are things you want to take advantage of.”
Dunaway said victim experiences may be emotionally draining, and dealing with the legal aspect adds another challenging layer. Duanway said judicial commissioners, counselors, and therapists are all available at the Family Justice Center to help.
“That’s the whole idea, is to have under one roof, wrap around services for these victims,” Dunaway said. “So that really simplifies their life in a time when emotions are high.
Dunaway said the Upper Cumberland Center is the first in the state to serve multiple counties. He said there have been challenges with all seven counties it serves having unique needs, but overall, the experiment has worked.
To combat the issues of unique needs and long distances, Dunaway said a satellite office was opened in Livingston to better serve Overton, Clay, and Pickett Counties. Dunaway said more satellite offices may be opened in the future.
