FARMINGTON — Elise Johansen, executive director of Safe Voices, believes expanding a safe housing and comprehensive center program in Franklin County will better support survivors of domestic violence and sex trafficking.

The agency’s 3,900-square-foot office/building in Farmington is undergoing changes. The center will have two, one-bedroom apartments and an emergency area that will serve between four and eight people. It will also include a resource center, a computer station area, and a survivor’s room.

It is the only emergency shelter for survivors of domestic violence and sex trafficking and exploitation in Franklin County and will serve not only the county seat but the region as a whole, according to Safe Voices’ application to Franklin County commissioners.

Johansen requested “$75,000, more or less” from the county’s $5.86 million allotment from American Rescue Plan Act on Feb. 1 for the project. The county received half of the money last year and will receive the other half this year.

The nonprofit organization sees “this funding as a collaborative effort combining the county and town of Farmington in a regional solution,” according to the application.

Johansen said the group also plans to ask Farmington for $10,000 from its share of American Rescue Plan Act.

Safe Voices, previously called Abused Women’s Advocacy Project, changed its name to also reflect that men can be victims of abuse. The name was changed in 2010, according to Safe Voices’ website.

The organization has wanted this expansion for more than 10 years, Johansen said. Franklin Memorial Hospital gave the building to Safe Voices when it built a center to house its medical practices.

The cost of the program is $1.87 million with a significant amount of it coming from the Emergency Grant Solutions Housing and Urban Development/Maine Housing, according to Johansen.

Other sources include a Community Development Block Grant through Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments.

The overall cost came in overbudget due to COVID-19 factors and inflation, so some items had to be cut, including a heating and cooling system, Johansen said. The county’s money would be put toward the items that were cut, Johansen said.

Among the funding listed in the application is $824,319 from Emergency Grant Solutions Housing and Urban Development/Maine Housing; $627,469 from Housing Trust Fund/Maine Housing; $262,691 from Community Development Block Grant through Maine Housing; $3,000 from Weyerhaeuser; $40,000 from Rescue Rebuild to ensure the shelter is pet friendly; $20,450 from Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments for environmental studies; and $85,000 from other sources, including the request to Franklin County.

Commissioners Lance Harvell of Farmington and Chairman Terry Brann of Wilton said Feb. 1 that they would support, at minimum, using $50,000 of the county’s rescue act funds for the project, but said they wanted Johansen to also seek money from the other 21 or so towns.

Johansen said at least 25% of the people served live in Farmington. She has been to the towns previously  and some have donated money.

“Each year Safe Voices receives far more requests for shelter than we are able to accommodate,” according to Johansen.

“In the last fiscal year survivors came to us for shelter for themselves and their children 290 times. Of those survivors we sheltered 106 and referred 184 unmet requests to other shelters or programs,” according to information in the application.

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