Crisis Prevention Center awarded grant for new shelter

WORLAND – The Wyoming Business Council Board of Directors awarded a $375,000 block grant to the Worland Crisis Prevention and Response Center (CPRC), furthering their ultimate goal of $743,430 to build a new domestic violence shelter and office facility.

The current shelter, located at 9th and Big Horn, was closed in 2010 due to structural defects, forcing the CPRC to house victims of domestic violence in local and regional motels. The proposed new facility on the PDRC’s current property would feature business and conference areas, bedrooms and common areas, kitchen, and a children’s play space, according to director Jean Core.

Core, who operates the CPRC with two part-time employees and two Worland-based AmeriCorps volunteers, is encouraged to see the process gain momentum. “We’ve been working for several years on this project,” Core said, “so to see it come to fruition is very exciting.”

In addition to the community grant, the CPRC benefits from the 1-cent sales tax initiative, which equals roughly $100,000 over the next four years, and has applied for a grant totaling $165,000 from the Rural Development Board of the United States Department of Agriculture.

The CPRC hopes to begin construction in the spring of 2016, Core said.