Helpmate receives $20,000 grant from The Mary Kay Foundation

Press release

From Helpmate:

Helpmate is pleased to announce they have been awarded a $20,000 unrestricted grant from The Mary Kay Foundation to maintain critical services and programs for individuals who are survivors of domestic abuse. The foundation has awarded $3 million in grants to 150 domestic violence shelters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

For over 33 years, Helpmate has served as Buncombe County’s primary provider of crisis-level services designed specifically for – and offered exclusively to – victims of domestic violence and their children. In fiscal year 12/13 Helpmate provided services to 1,869 clients which included emergency shelter, 24/7 crisis line, individual counseling, support group/education, court advocacy and educational programs.

“We are grateful for this emergency shelter grant and applaud the Mary Kay Foundation for their work,” said April Burgess-Johnson, Helpmate’s Executive Director. “In many cases, women and children come into our emergency shelter because their lives are in danger. Last fiscal year we sheltered 96 women and 64 children. This grant will assist us to continue this vital, life-saving work.”

For nearly 20 years The Mary Kay FoundationSM has supported the prevention and elimination of domestic violence, an epidemic that touches one in every four women in her lifetime. Through the Foundation’s annual shelter grant program, $34 million has been granted to domestic violence organizations since 2000.

“The Mary Kay FoundationSM is proud to support local shelters that are on the front lines of helping the thousands of women and children who seek shelter and support from abuse,” said Anne Crews, Vice President of Government Relations for Mary Kay Inc. and board member for The Mary Kay FoundationSM. “The shelter grants are a signature program for The Mary Kay Foundation and represent just one of the ways we are committed to breaking the cycle of domestic violence.”

Click here for a full list of 2013 grant recipients or visit marykayfoundation.org for additional information.
About The Mary Kay FoundationSM
The Mary Kay FoundationSM was created in 1996, and its mission is two-fold: to fund research of cancers affecting women and to help prevent domestic violence while raising awareness of the issue. Since the Foundation’s inception, it has awarded $34 million to shelters and programs addressing domestic violence prevention and more than $20 million to cancer researchers and related causes throughout the United States. To learn more about The Mary Kay FoundationSM, please visit www.marykayfoundation.orgor call 1-877-MKCARES (652-2737).