Pinched

Funding cuts, shifts, leave some DV shelters scrambling to stay afloat

CHINLE

On June 5, Ama dóó Alchíní Bighaan, Central Agency’s only domestic violence program, will turn 21.

In those two decades, executive director Lorena Halwood has seen the drugs on the reservation get harder, the assaults more frequent and intense — and her funding dwindle.

But, always, one grant or another would come through or the tribe would step in just in time to save the program.

This year, though … it’s been something else. Like a lot of 21-year-olds, ADABI is waking up to the sound of snipping apron strings.

“The Victims of Crime grant from Arizona Department of Public Safety — we didn’t get it,” Halwood said, ticking off her usual funding sources. “The Arizona Department of Health Services grant — we’ve had it for years, and we didn’t get it. The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission grant — we have yet to hear.”

The tribe came through, but not like it has in the past, when the program could expect an influx of $80,000 or so.

“All we got from the Navajo Nation was $64,000,” lamented Halwood. “I almost had a breakdown. How can we run a program on $64,000?”

The answer is, you just do.

ADABI has laid off four staffers since October. The office is manned by Halwood and two half-timers, one of whom works in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The program’s eight volunteers, whom Halwood calls “just wonderful,” have stepped up to fill the gaps.

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