CARDV, Corvallis’ Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence, has recently had a $20,000 drop in their budget. According to Toni Ryan, CARDV’s executive director, the City of Corvallis reduced their funding to the organization by $7,766, the United Way of Benton County reduced their funding by $12,350, and the government funding was dropped by 5.5%. Furthermore, the donation side to the budget was dropped by 14% which has been one of the hardest hits to the budget as it was not predicted. It had been known for a while that the government funding would be decreased, and it is estimated that it will keep decreasing as the years go on. However, the loss in the donations was something that was not prepared for.
For this year, CARDV has enough money on reserve to sustain all of their programs and supplement their $880,000 yearly budget. Ryan stated that over the course of this year the organization would be working on how to replace funding as well as which programs will be cut. Her projection is that the night time response team program would be the first to be cut as there wouldn’t be enough money to pay for the employees and the night shift isn’t something that is easy to find volunteers for.
The loss of the night program would be a devastating loss for women in distress. Without this program, the call respondent would have to direct the distressed person to try and remain in safe place until morning when a responder could come for them and take them to safety.
The biggest necessity for CARDV right now is donations and volunteers. Any kind of donation will help supplement the budget and keep important programs open longer as 25% of the budget comes from the community. Furthermore, the more volunteers the organization can get, the more people they can help. It also means they do not have to spend money to hire someone, and can spend the money on programs.
To volunteer or donate, please contact Toni Ryan, the executive director. She can be contacted at toni.ryan@cardvservices.org or at 541-758-0219 extension 302.
By Cristina Himka
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