Carlsbad Battered Family Shelter and Loving Lady Falcons Team Up

By Misty Cryer

A day full of fun to benefit Carlsbad Battered Family Shelter and Loving Lady Falcons Basketball Team is planned for Saturday, June 28. The event will be held from 7 a.m. to noon at the ATC Shooting Sports range at 1530 E. Morris Road.

“It is going to be a clay shoot,” said Erika Wright, Executive Director of Carlsbad Battered Family Shelter. “We’re going in with the Loving Lady Falcons Basketball Team. We thought it would be good, being that it is a young group of women. They are also coming to volunteer at the event. They want to do some volunteer work for the needs of the shelter,” she said.

“We will be serving breakfast and lunch; that’s part of the entry fee,” said Wright. For a four-shooter team, the fee is $1,500. Wright said that includes breakfast, lunch, the clays and ammo, and a giveaway. For individual shooters, the fee is $300, she said.

The event is called “Together We Can Clay Shoot,” said Wright. “All of the proceeds will go here, at the shelter, and also to the Lady Falcons Basketball Team,” she said.

Sponsors of the event include PJ&B’s, Albertsons, Southeast Redi Mix, Western Commerce, Kodiak Compression-Carlsbad, and Forrest Tire, said Wright.

“We are still needing sponsors and teams,” she said.

Anyone interested can contact Jordan Millican with questions, to register, or to sponsor the event at 575-706-4693 or through email (jordanlm82923@gmail.com).

Carlsbad Battered Family Shelter is a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization, said Wright.

“We are a domestic violence shelter, so we serve as an emergency shelter for anyone who is fleeing domestic violence or who is in an unsafe situation,” she said, explaining that they assist clients who stay at the shelter, along with clients who do not stay.

As a temporary shelter, Wright said, the organization assists with protective orders, legal referrals, court advocacy, and counseling, as well as having a 24-hour crisis line. “The typical stay here is 90 days, but because of the affordability of housing here, it seems that they’ve been staying a little longer. As long as they’re working the program, that’s fine,” she said.

The shelter encourages clients to get jobs if they aren’t working, while assisting with resumes, said Wright. Clients benefit from services provided by the shelter if they want to continue their education while learning life skills like financial goal setting, she added.

“The group support that we do is educating them on safety planning and healthy relationships, and not healthy relationships, mental health, all of that,” said Wright.

She said the shelter also has pet kennels onsite. “If victims don’t want to leave their babies, they can bring them,” she said.

Carlsbad Battered Family Shelter receives federal and state funding, along with local grants. “We’ve taken a hit recently on federal funding, and our state funding is questionable. Right now, these fundraisers are really important,” said Wright.

The shelter serves at least 500 people each year. “That’s residential and non-residential,” said Wright. “It’s growing because the population is growing,” she said.

“Domestic violence is here; it affects all of us. We encourage you to be supportive of anyone who comes to you with information. Give them our number or address,” said Wright. “I know a lot of people will just turn away; they don’t like to get involved,” she said, adding that anonymous phone calls can be made and could save someone’s life.

For survivors, Wright said, “Share your story because it gives hope to other people who are going through it.”

Carlsbad Battered Family Shelter can be reached at 575-885-4615. Further information can be obtained from the shelter’s website (https://carlsbadshelter.com).