2023 Lucas Drive, Dallas TX 75219
Established by Shelter Ministries of Dallas (“SMD”) in 1985, Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support (‘Genesis”) offers the most comprehensive domestic violence (“DV”) recovery program in Dallas including an Emergency Shelter, a Transitional Housing Facility that includes on-site schooling, daycare, and afterschool programming, and a non-residential Outreach Counseling Center where clients have access to clinical counseling facilitated by licensed mental health professionals, advocacy services offering representation in legal proceedings, and legal services provided by licensed attorneys. The Genesis full continuum of care for women and children who are escaping DV is provided at no cost to the client and is delivered through a trauma-informed response that addresses the personalized needs of each and every individual.
The Genesis non-residential program has experienced a steady increase in clients since its inception, as well as a shift in needs and responses to DV that require careful application of evidence-based programs and technology. Genesis has outgrown its current Outreach Counseling Center, experiencing a 63% increase in counseling hours in 2018 (26,000 hours provided, versus 16,000 in 2017); additional space with expanded offerings is desperately needed. Current estimates also point to an additional increase in new clients of at least 20% but possibly as high as 40% in 2019 and in subsequent years, as the prior year-over-year increase was 40% (3,500 2018 vs. 2,500 2017). In all additional areas measured Genesis continually experiences increases year-over-year. The upward trend of need is anticipated to continue, and the staff, program and facility must expand to accommodate it.
In August 2019, SMD engaged Crescent to pursue NMTC financings for both the Genesis Street and Austin Street Centers. On January 8th, in partnership with Hampton Roads Ventures, Texas Mezzanine Fund and Capital One, Crescent and SMD closed on a $19M NMTC financing to construct the new Genesis Women’s Center.
Genesis’ new campus will encompass a 28,600 square-foot facility for non-residential counseling services plus accommodate the establishment of three evidence-based centers for treatment, advocacy and research-focused education: The Center for Child Trauma and Healing, The Legal Justice Center and Family Law Library, and The Genesis Institute for Training and Education. The center will also launch a dedicated 24/7 DV response initiative in the Genesis Technology Command Center. Firsts for the city of Dallas, these new initiatives will transform current approaches to DV response, treatment and prevention, supporting more positive outcomes for women and children.
The new Genesis Women’s Shelter will increase overall capacity by 40%, legal service provision by 100%, deployment of cutting-edge techniques targeting children traumatized by domestic violence, education opportunities for DV advocates and therapists, and will debut the Genesis Technology Command Center. The newly-completed Genesis Women’s Shelter will necessitate the hiring of between 40-70 new FTE’s.