Help sought for Community Crisis Center

Since 1975, the Community Crisis Center in Elgin has helped victims of domestic or sexual abuse or folks who have fallen on hard times.

Now, the center itself is seeking a helping hand from lawmakers.

Sen. Mike Nolan, an Elgin Democrat, said he hopes to land a one-time, $300,000 payment to help the center erase most of its debt.

Noland introduced the funding request last week. He is hopeful it will be included in the state's budget, which is up for approval this summer.

He said the money is needed to help the center, which serves more than 6,600 people a year from the Elgin area, Kane County and the Northwest suburbs.

Among its services are a 24-hour hotline, counseling and an emergency shelter for battered women and children.

Gretchen Vapnar, the center's executive director, said the center raised $2.7 million through donations and grants to renovate a 116-year-old school in late 2004.

But because the building was so old, the project ran about $400,000 over the original cost.

The $390,000 that the center still owes is due in 2009. Currently, the organization is paying just the interest on the loan.

"We've never asked for this type of help," Vapnar said. "We need all of the services we have to do our job. We are essential to the community and a wide service area. It's not that we're better (than other funding requests.) We're trying to be more efficient."

The center isn't turning people away, Vapnar said. Rather, its funding woes have led to the loss of seven staff members through attrition.

She said it takes staffers longer to get to people who need help and they can't spend as much time with them as they need.

The center holds numerous fundraisers each year. But Vapnar said other costs, such as utilities, have increased while government funding has remained stagnant for the last five years.

"We are definitely in crisis mode. We don't have enough people to do what we need to do," she said.

For details about the center, call (847) 697-2380.