The children’s drawings were telling.

The youngest residents of the Families in Crisis shelter in Temple were asked to draw pictures to illustrate “home at the shelter.”

Words dominated a couple of drawings, both stressing a sense of security - “a place where we can sleep, a place where we feel safe, to be happy, to be away from violence.” The shelter’s playground was depicted in a drawing.

Another illustration looked like a rainbow, but Barbara Stephens, shelter manager, explained she had made the same mistake in interpreting the artwork and was set straight by the abstract artist.

“It’s a Lamborghini going really fast,” she was told.

A shelter resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, said one of the reasons she came to the shelter in late July after being hurt by her husband was that she didn’t want her two children to see their father abusing her.

“He never hurt them, just me,” she said.

The young woman expects to move out in a couple of weeks, but said she was glad the shelter was there when she needed it.

“We have a place to stay, a place to take a bath and a place to rest our heads,” she said.

By staying at a shelter in Temple she can continue to work and her children can spend the day at Ralph Wilson Youth Club.

“Everything is working out good,” she said.

Her goals are clearly defined. She wants a divorce and a place to live with her children.

“They can see their dad whenever they want,” she said. “I’m not going to keep them away from him.”

If the shelter hadn’t been available, the victim said she would have stayed with relatives, a place where her husband would likely have found her. The shelter is at an undisclosed location to help keep victims safe.

Families in Crisis announced last week that because of a lack of anticipated government funding, its Temple shelter is in jeopardy.

Interim co-directors of Families in Crisis, chief financial officer William Hall and community relations manager Suzanne Armour, are looking at ways to raise $45,000, the amount needed to keep the Temple shelter open through its fourth quarter.

Families in Crisis has operated a shelter in Killeen for 28 years and opened the Temple shelter last year.

Ms. Stephens said the shelter stays full most of the time.

“We’ve helped so many people and I would hate for people who live here to have to go to the Killeen shelter,” she said.

Ms. Stephens has worked for Families in Crisis for four years and knows what happens when children are separated from the familiar.

“It’s bad enough to be separated from your home, but it’s even worse when you have to leave behind your friends, your school, your teachers,” she said.

“A lot of time ladies come here with nothing,” said Shauna Potts, Temple shelter crisis intervention specialist.

The shelter gets donations from the Capital Area Food Bank and the residents are encouraged to save their food stamps to use when they move out to set up their own home.

Many service groups, churches and business support the Temple shelter with donations.

“We’ve always had overwhelming support when it’s needed,” Ms. Stephens said.

The residents have access to all supplies. “It’s about power and control with victims of domestic violence,” Ms. Stephens said. “We don’t want them to have to ask us for anything.”

There is a shelter staff member on site 24 hours a day. “It takes some juggling and that’s OK because we believe in what we do,” Ms. Stephens said.

The staff is vigilant, keeping an eye on cars parked in the area or someone loitering around the property, she said.

“We don’t hesitate in approaching people, because we have to protect these ladies,” Ms. Stephens said.

Shelter staff have witnessed the horrible ways some people treat each other.

One woman who came to the shelter had been jumped on by her boyfriend and had broken her leg.

“It was important that she had a place to heal,” Ms. Stephens said.

Another woman came in covered in dirt after her partner tried to bury her alive.

“It’s horrible, but it’s vital that there is some place for these women to go,” Ms. Stephens said.

It takes several incidents of abuse before some women will leave, she said. Statistics indicate a woman will be abused seven times before taking action.

Granted, for some women it only has to happen once, she said. But, many of the women who come to the shelter have low self-esteem, otherwise they would know they deserve to be treated better, she said.

“We gear much of our support at the shelter so the women will begin to feel better about themselves,” Stephens said.