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Aug. 19, 2010
Oakland mayor Peggy Jamison announced to staff and board members of the Dove Center on Friday, Aug. 13, that the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development awarded the town of Oakland a Community Development Block Grant.
The grant of $800,000 will help the Dove Center build a new facility, which is projected to be completed in less than 18 months. The facility will provide storage space, private offices for administrators and counselors, and safe, secure shelter for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Criteria for the grant included demonstrated need and community support for a new facility. “Dem-onstrating need for the facility was relatively easy. The current shelter, with one bathroom, sometimes houses as many as 15 people,” stated a spokesperson for the Dove Center.
In addition to the grant, community support also helped to finance the plan for the new building. Two years ago the center, under the leadership of Edna Forsyth, organized Capital Campaign II, setting a goal of $200,000, which was a quarter of the amount applied for in the grant. Employees and volunteers set out to ask friends, family, neighbors, and businesses for donations. To date, according to the campaign’s chair, Pam Trickett, the total campaign effort has raised about $289,000, with donations still coming in.
