For women fleeing an abusive situation, often with children, Families in Crisis provides temporary shelter at a difficult time.

To help support the women’s shelter, the 11th annual Great Bodies Car Show was held Saturday at Champion Chevrolet with right at $10,000 collected.

“We have $9,850 so far with a few sponsorship checks left to come in,” said Families in Crisis executive director Kristy Stubblefield.

The money goes to support a valuable service – that being women and their children who need shelter.

“We haven’t had an empty bed in two years,” said Stubblefield. “Before COVID, people were staying around 90 days before they were able to get a place, but after COVID it’s around five to six months. There’s just not much affordable housing in this area. The Housing Authority is not accepting new residents at this time. For a single mom with one income, it’s hard to find housing.”

Stubblefield said Families in Crisis used to provide around 2,000 bed nights a year just a few years ago, but now that number has grown to about 2,000 bed nights a quarter. 

“In some cases we’ve thrown a mattress down on the floor,” she said.

Families in Crisis maintains 11 regular beds from twin size to queen.

“We’ve housed as many as 20 at one time,” said Stubblefield. “It depends on the size of the children really. If they are small children, we can fit more to a bed.”

Over the past year, Families in Crisis served right at 600 clients outside the shelter with court advocacy, orders of protection, and other services. During that same time, 100 have been served in the shelter.

“We definitely appreciate all the people who came out and supported the car show,” said Stubblefield. “It’s a big chunk to get $10,000 in one day.”