Groundbreaking for Domestic Abuse Intervention Services Shelter

Potter Lawson was proud to be a part of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Domestic Abuse Intervention Services, Inc. (DAIS) shelter on Fordem Avenue designed by Potter Lawson.

Executive Director Shannon Barry says she hopes to move into the new facility next summer. “We still must raise just over $2 million to meet our capital campaign goal and hope those who know that our community desperately needs a better shelter and increased program space will find a way to give with gifts of any size.”

DAIS is the only domestic violence program serving Dane County. In recent years, the organization has experienced a huge increase in the number of individuals and families needing assistance. Shelter officials say an emergency domestic violence shelter is long overdue.

The current DAIS Shelter is the smallest domestic violence shelter per capita in the entire state of Wisconsin (1 emergency shelter bed per 19,000 people compared to the state average of 1 bed per 7,500 people). In 2012, there were over 8,200 nights that DAIS had to waitlist people with high safety needs for shelter due to the limited bed space available.