By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


A local non-profit that helps victims of domestic abuse has been awarded a grant to help offset unexpected costs brought on by the pandemic.

The LACASA Center was recently awarded $17,000 from the DTE Energy Foundation. LACASA provides around-the-clock service for the victims of child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault.

President and CEO Bobette Schrandt said, in a release, that this has been a daunting year for them. From June to October LACASA provided roughly 1,200 nights in hotels and more than 3,500 off-site meals for victims and their children who couldn’t stay in their shelter because of capacity restrictions. Schrandt said that once the shelter-in-place rules lifted they saw drastically rising numbers of abuse victims seeking immediate shelter and a skyrocketing number of child abuse cases. LACASA experienced three times the numbers of victims requesting help with personal protection orders this year and their Child Abuse Response Effort team saw a 230-percent increase in child abuse investigations.

All services provided by LACASA are given free of charge under the belief that safety has no price and that no one should be turned away due to economic circumstances. Schrandt said they are grateful to the DTE Energy Foundation for their generous funding, adding that every act of support right now makes a difference in the lives of abuse victims in the Livingston County.

To learn about all they do, or to make a donation, visit lacasacenter.org.