Mid-Minnesota Women’s Center Hosts “Luminating Life” Fundraiser

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and it’s also when the Mid-Minnesota Women’s Center hosts their annual fundraiser called “Luminating Life.”

The Mid-Minnesota Women’s Center was founded in 1978 and provides 24-hour intake to emergency shelter for individuals experiencing domestic violence. The shelter serves women, and their children, men, and even pets. The shelter also provides advocacy, information and referral services, support groups, and community education.

“It’s extremely important because when somebody’s in need and they don’t feel like they have anywhere else to go, they’re able to come to us and we can help them with what they need. Right now, we have approximately 26 beds that are full at our shelter and that’s almost the case all the time,” said Shannon Wussow, Mid-Minnesota Women’s Center Executive Director.

The “Luminating Life” fundraiser was held at the Luminary Fern in the Northern Pacific Center in Brainerd this evening. All of the proceeds from the event went towards the shelter which served 904 individuals last quarter alone.

“Those funds will allow us to continue doing what it is that we’re doing. We need those to keep our doors open. We do receive a grant from OJP from the state of Minnesota and that accounts for approximately seventy percent of our expense budget, which means every year we try to raise approximately $400,000 to kind of bridge that gap,” explained

The shelter will be holding a candlelight vigil for the lives lost to domestic violence at Kiwanis Park next Tuesday, October 16.