The Mount Graham Safe House is looking for property to locate their brand new four-bedroom mobile unit safe house in Greenlee County.
The Mount Graham Safe House is a shelter and a space of safety for those escaping a domestic violence situation. The shelter houses families, feeds and provides for their needs, and also assists transportation. It is capable of housing 32 individuals and was formally established in 1995. The shelter is a co-ed facility, and is available for all victims of domestic violence. Housing is also available for pets onsite at the facility. Shelter employees provide transportation services for shelter occupants to court hearing dates, doctor visits and work. Also, the shelter assists its occupants in finding transitional housing.
Dorsha Frye is the Greenlee Mobile Advocate for the Mount Graham Safe House. She explained that the new four-bedroom mobile unit was donated in October 2021. The person who donated the home wished to remain anonymous. It will be built and delivered as soon as funds are donated to purchase land. Frye said that two rooms of the unit will be filled with families while another room would be designated for a single woman and the last room would be an office for an employee.
“We need a property to put it on,” she said. “We have to have a property, and we’re hoping someone would have some property to donate or lease, or have the funds to donate so we can purchase land or help with a purchase.”
The safe house has had several land opportunities, but they have all fallen through, Frye said. In April the organization will be holding a softball tournament to raise funds toward the purchase of land for the building. One of the major hang-ups for the project is that in Clifton there is an ordinance that only allows a home to be built on a 7,000-square-foot parcel of land. All of the land that the shelter has been offered has been too small to meet that requirement.
Even if the land doesn’t have electricity or water, Frye said several organizations have come forward and volunteered to put in the needed utilities without charge to the shelter. The lack of land is the largest mountain the shelter is having to climb.
The Mount Graham Safe House is the only shelter in Graham and Greenlee counties for women fleeing domestic violence cases. Although Greenlee County doesn’t have as large a population, Frye said the need for a shelter in Greenlee County is dire.
“It’s so important for families that live up there that their kids stay in school,” Frye said. “It keeps people staying in an abusive situation.”
The shelter’s location is pivotal and the key reason why many families stay in unhealthy situations, Frye said. Some women are afraid of losing their jobs and income and don’t have the transportation available to keep their jobs in Greenlee County.
“There’s a big need, but they don’t come because they don’t have the money,” she said. “These are the things that keep them up there in that situation.”
Over the past two months, Frye has assisted five people get out of violent domestic situations in Greenlee County.
