ENNIS, Texas — Across the nation, since the pandemic, domestic violence cases have been going up.
A local shelter in Ennis made it their mission to help women and children get to safety and give them a place to live.
But after COVID, the shelter is on the brinks of shutting down, because they aren’t getting the donations they used to get.
“We just don’t have the funding to keep the doors open,” said Kimberly Malone, the CEO of Angels Walking by Faith Ministry.
It’s hard for Kimberly Malone not to cry, as she talks about Angels Walking by Faith Ministry, a women’s shelter she opened up in 2015.
“I want to be a help in any way I can,” said Malone.
The women’s shelter is tucked away in Ennis, in the middle of nowhere, and they can’t afford to stay open. Malone says victims feel safe being far away from their abusers.
“We look at this as a safety net for women and children,” said Malone.
These women are survivors of domestic violence, and they don’t want anyone to know where they are.
“They don’t have a place to go, when they don’t have people that’s in the area, where do they go?” said Malone.
“It’s a journey, it’s a big journey,” said Stephanie Cox, a domestic violence abuse survivor.
It was an emotional journey for Cox and her five children.
“From abuse, my husband hurt me first, and then that’s when I learned about my daughter,” said Cox.
They all stayed in a small room together with bunk beds.
“Even having Christmas in that small room,” said Cox.
Malone says the shelter remained open with donations and prayers of hope.
“It’s saved me because Miss Kim kept me grounded. When I say grounded, she’s like get up and pray,” said Cox.
But after the pandemic, funds aren’t coming in.
The shelter houses about a dozen families a month. The fear here, as the holidays are coming up, is that the families won’t have a place to go.
“Losing, the door is shutting. To bring them out of devastation, to put I’m back in devastation, it’s really hard,” said Malone.
Malone says, she needs help from a grant writer.
If you would like to help the women’s shelter, an online fundraiser was set up.