1st Source Bank Foundation awards $25,000 grant to keep victims safe through The Caring Place’s police officer training program

This story is part of a series on 1st Source Bank Foundation’s grant program. Learn more about the program and the impact it has on communities across Northern Indiana here.

Since the 1970s, The Caring Place has provided the victims of domestic violence in Northwest Indiana with a safe space to begin the process of recovery following an abusive situation. This is accomplished through a variety of resources, from offering shelter to introducing resources to ensure that those who pass through The Caring Place’s halls never have to return.

Ensuring the security of those in the shelter’s care is a top priority for CEO Jessica Luth and the rest of her team. That’s why Luth wrote an initial grant to support overnight shifts for off-duty police officers two nights a week at The Caring Place.

“A couple years ago, we wrote a grant with this kind of crazy idea. We were having such a hard time getting consistent overnight staff. We asked ourselves, ‘Who does shifts like this? Maybe we could write a grant and have police officers do it,’” Luth said. “What developed was even more than we could have ever hoped for.”

While there were initial concerns regarding the program, Luth and the team found that the officers not only provided an additional sense of security for residents of The Caring Place, they also took lessons they learned at the shelter into their day-to-day work. This created positive relations between The Caring Place’s residents and gave officers new tools to use when responding to domestic violence calls.

“One of the core ideas of The Caring Place is that we are just people helping people. We’re here to make sure that people aren’t going through it alone,” Luth said. “Now, the officers get to feel that too. They get to know victims as people and it’s really remarkable. They have really understood the assignment.”

The police presence in the shelter has also had a positive impact on the relationship many residents have with law enforcement. Bringing law enforcement into a domestic violence situation can cause complicated feelings in a victim, but getting to know officers on a personal level can make reaching out much easier.

“Some of our favorite stories are about tough, tattooed officers coming in. They’ll be holding babies, doing coloring books, washing the dishes, and just really acclimating to the environment,” Luth said. “The officers are trained just like our staff, and they know how to work with our clients. The relationships that our clients get to build with the police officers – to see what good work they do and to not be afraid – has been really incredible.”

Seeing the success of the program made Luth realize that it needed to expand. When it came time to find additional funding, she submitted a grant request to 1st Source Bank Foundation, which awarded The Caring Place with a $25,000 grant that has allowed Luth and the team to add an additional night to the police program.

“Thanks to the grant, we’ve been able to add Friday nights to the service. We now have officers at the shelter on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. We also utilize the money for training to teach the officers what they need to be doing during the evenings.” Luth said. “The amount of call-ins is like 600% different than what we had prior. The officers are very consistent.”

1st Source Bank Foundation had previously awarded The Caring Place with a $25,000 grant supporting the shelter’s aftercare services. This second grant is continued recognition of the important work The Caring Place is doing in its community.

“The Caring Place is a vital resource in our community and keeping their staff and residents safe is important to their success,” said Matt Vessely, West Region President of 1st Source Bank. “They’ve been a great community partner over the years and 1st Source Bank Foundation is proud to support them with this grant.”

Luth is appreciative of the relationship The Caring Place has been able to build with 1st Source Bank and 1st Source Bank Foundation.

“1st Source stepped up right away,” she said. “They’ve been so amazing to us, and they really recognize the need for our services in the community. They’re community advocates through and through. We’re thankful for that.”

Luth is also appreciative of all the police departments that participate in the program. Their willingness to take part in The Caring Place’s mission is what has made the program so effective.

“They have been on board since day one, and they are so willing to support anything. They really have been dedicated to making this work. It makes us proud to be part of the community,” Luth said. “We try really hard to stay focused on what our expertise is, and our expertise is serving victims of domestic violence. The police are all about safety, so when we want to keep our clients safe, we go to the experts. The combination has been really great.”

The Caring Place is the primary 24-hour emergency shelter in Porter County serving victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Its 24-hour crisis hotline can be reached at 219-464-2128 (local) and 1-800-933-0466.

1st Source Bank Foundation helps fund local projects making a significant impact on their community. For more information, visit 1st Source Bank Foundation’s website.