UPDATE (3:20 p.m.) Two people have been found dead in the home involved in today’s SWAT incident included below in this post.
After 29 years at The Family Place (TFP), CEO Paige Flink probably thought her final months leading to her retirement would be a cake walk. After all, she had seen the good, the bad and the really ugly during her decades of protecting victims of domestic violence. But as all-knowing as Paige is, it’s doubtful that even she could have foreseen an epic deep freeze that would result in more than 100 of her clients being without housing, clothing and the bare necessities.
Thanks to busted pipes at TFP’s largest emergency shelter, Paige and her crew found themselves scrambling to find a secure off-site location for more than 52 women and 71 children. Adding to that challenge, she had to tackle the relocation of six men and two children to one of the organization’s the men’s shelter that still had power.
These displacements were especially traumatic for people who had sought refuge at TFP from lives of fear and uncertainty. Now they were being uprooted again and only had the clothes on their backs.
Luckily, TFP crews managed to arrange housing for the women until Saturday. In the meantime, a search got underway to locate a secure facility where the 123 women and children could call home.
As if to emphasize the fear that TFP clients have endured, this morning a family violence situation developed into a SWAT situation where two police officers were shot and the shooter was still at large at noon.
To help Paige in keeping her clients safe and warm, she’s putting out an SOS for donations of funds.
According to The Family Place staff, “Monetary donations are our biggest need for ongoing housing for the women and children in our care, and these donations can be made online at www.familyplace.org/donate.
“As far as physical donations, we are accepting new blankets, pillows, sheets, coats and warm clothes for women and children, and activities to keep kids entertained. We are accepting these donations at our Resale Shop located at 11722 Marsh Lane Suite 354 (Southeast corner of the Park Forest Shopping Center) Dallas, TX 75229, from 3-4 pm today, or during regular operating hours tomorrow.”
* Photo/video provided by The Family Place