Resource & Crisis Center Continues To Grow
Navigators with the Galveston Regional Chamber of Commerce gathered on Thursday afternoon with Staff and Board Members of the Resource and Crisis Center of Galveston County to celebrate a ribbon cutting and dedication of their historic new campus, 1204 45th Street.
The Resource and Crisis Center of Galveston County, Inc. originated in 1979 as a program of the YWCA, known as the Women’s Crisis Center of Galveston County. The original mission of the organization was to provide services to victims of family violence. A building was made available by the Houston-Galveston Diocese in 1981 and a Director was hired to run the agency. In 1985 the agency received its 501( c) (3) exemption status and became a separate entity. Services were expanded to include both shelter and non-residential services to family violence victims. When the only program in Galveston County for sexual assault ended in 1987, RCC began to provide direct services to victims of rape, incest and other sexual assault crimes.
The staff and overall budget was increased on a year by year basis as new programs were begun and older programs were expanded.
Judge Susan Baker, a Family District Judge, saw a need for the establishment of a CASA program in 1994 to assist with resolving the cases of abused and neglected children in the foster care system. She approached the RCC Board of Directors with the idea and in 1995 the Voices for Children CASA Program was formed and volunteers were assigned their first cases before the year was out. In 2014, CASA broke off and became its own non-profit agency.
Recognizing the grants and donations alone were not enough to operate the multi-programs, the agency opened its first thrift store in League City in 1987. With the success of this store and the abundance of donated clothing and other items from a generous public, a second store was opened in Texas City in 1991. By April of 1995 the agency was able to open its third store in Galveston and in 1997 expanded to sell donated furniture items. Allocated funds from the thrift stores are the largest single fundraiser of the agency.An administrative office was purchased in the Spring of 2001 and the offices were moved to the new location at 2202 Avenue L in Galveston. An additional structure was purchased which, after renovation, became our shelter in 2002. We changed our name officially in October 2006 to Resource and Crisis Center of Galveston County, Inc.
In 2008, Hurricane Ike devastated Galveston and RCC suffered significant damage in the shelter. Nearly a year after the hurricane in 2009, the shelter was reopened and able to provide for women fleeing domestic violence. Unfortunately, the damage to the administrative office was far worse than imagined and in 2010 RCC was moved to a rental property at 1802 Broadway, Suite 122 in Galveston until decisions about the property can be finalized.
RCC continues to offer quality services to those who come to us for help without the regard to age, sex, race, ethnic background, religion or sexual orientation. There has never been a charge for any services provided to the clients by the agency. The board and staff continually look for new ways to improve service delivery and to reach out to those populations that may be undeserved for a variety of reasons.
Selah Tacconi and Debbie Williams celebrate the opening for the new permanent home for RCC
