There was a sense of relief when Families in Crisis opened a shelter in Temple last year.

Finally, there was a place in the east side of the county for families seeking a safe place to escape domestic violence.

Today, the picture isn’t so rosy. Government funding, necessary to pay for the operation of the Temple shelter, did not come through and Families in Crisis faces the possibility of curtailing services or temporarily closing the Temple shelter.

“Nobody wants to close the shelter, even temporarily,” said William Hall, co-interim director (with Suzanne Armour) and chief financial officer.

It’s difficult to get the momentum and support back once a facility is shuttered, he said.

The 16-bed Temple shelter has served more than 100 people in the past year and is usually filled to capacity.

There is an effort under way to secure funding for the shelter through its fourth quarter, or until January 2009.

United Way of Central Texas announced Tuesday a challenge pledge. If the community raises $20,000, the United Way will match it.

There have been other offers of assistance since it became known the shelter was in financial trouble, said Armour, who also serves as community relations.

“We have had folks calling wanting to volunteer or asking where they can send money,” she said.

Families in Crisis asked the city of Temple for $35,000 for general operating funds for the Temple shelter during a council meeting last week, Hall said.

Paula Conti, Families in Crisis board member and treasurer, told the council that in the time the Temple shelter has been open, the crisis center had responded to twice the number of calls at Scott & White about domestic violence as in years past.

“We have applied for and not received more than $350,000 in federal, state and local funds,” Conti said.

If a shelter has to close, it will be the one in Temple, since the Killeen shelter is larger and can serve more victims, she said.

Families in Crisis officials thought there was some breathing room in the Temple shelter budget, because government funding was expected.

When Families in Crisis began the process of opening the Temple shelter, the organization was under the impression it would receive funding from Health and Human Services Commission after it had been open for a year, Hall said. Also, the shelter had applied for and had hopes of receiving funds from either Violence Against Women or Victim of Crime Act, both Criminal Justice Department programs.

Central Texas Council of Governments distributes Violence Against Women and Victim of Crime Act funding, and Families in Crisis is so far down in the rankings of those seeking that money, there is little confidence that any will be available for the shelter, according to Hall.

A few months ago, the shelter learned that since Texas approves a two-year budget and this is the second year of the current budget, Health and Human Services Commission funding won’t be available from the state until September 2009.

During its first year, the Temple shelter’s $160,000 operating expenses have been covered by funds Families in Crisis received from the Swalm Foundation before it dissolved.

“That was for running the Temple shelter its first year, until federal funding was available,” Hall said. “We thought we would be OK.”

Leadership Temple got everything in place to get the funding, Hall said.

A 2006 Leadership Temple class took on the Temple shelter as a project and was able to raise more than $300,000 in in-kind donations to get the facility up and running. A second class provided the shelter’s playground equipment.

Groups normally want to see tangible results from their volunteer efforts, not realizing it’s the operating expenses that keep the doors open, Armour said.

A number of service groups have assisted the shelter and fundraisers are planned for the future.

“Everything is set for down the road,” Hall said. “Now we just have to get to the road.”

Families in Crisis has spent the last year fundraising, applying for grants for its shelters and anticipating money from the Justice Department, but bad news followed bad news, Hall said. It came to a head about 60 days ago and since that time the organization’s board has been looking at various scenarios on how Families in Crisis would continue to operate.

Killeen shelter staff was cut to save money, but the group is now at a point where the next cut will involve discontinuing services, he said.

There is hope on the horizon, and both Hall and Armour think the present problems will be overcome.

“We have a lot of support out there . . . I think we’ll get over this hurdle, but for the future we need continued community support,” Hall said.