NAMPA — Higher caseloads and less funding: It's a combination that has Nampa's family shelter for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault between a rock and a hard place.

Valley Crisis Center's executive director Yolanda Matos has seen it all — gashes, bruises and broken bones —but this economic downswing has her worried and turning to the community for continued support of the 63-bed shelter.

"We're mainly funded by federal and state grants. Since I took over, I gave a big push for fundraisers," said Matos, who has seen her staff shrink from 22 employees five years ago to 13 now. "My federal and state grants are drying up, so I have to support more on private funders and community support. The community is very, very good to me ... But I am in a financial crunch. We're going to be short this budget year probably $30,000."

It costs about $385,000 a year to run Valley Crisis Center, which has been in its revamped headquarters in central Nampa for 10 years. The shelter has been in other locations providing services to local women for more than 25 years.

Women and their children get dorms, meals and counseling at no charge for up to two years. The highest average length of stay this year was 24 days.

The numbers keep growing. This June the shelter saw 73 victims. Last year at the same time the number was 36. Close to 40,000 meals were served last year. This year, the shelter has already served 35,000.

"We're going to surpass last year by far," Matos said, looking over the data.

But the shelter has lost two of its major funding sources, who used to give about $10,000 each every November.

"If a woman needed medication and has no insurance or Medicaid, I may or may not be able to help her, depending on my budget," Matos said. "It takes some creative thinking."

That means spaghetti feeds and motorcycle raffles — fundraisers that help carry the costs of the shelter in addition to private and corporate donations. 

"Every dollar helps. I have people who donate $25 every month because they care. I have an elderly couple who donates $75 every month," Matos said. "We will always need the community's support."

Thinking creatively also means finding new ways to cut costs. Matos asked her staff who could afford it to voluntarily take off as many days as they could without pay. Matos, too, is working multiple days per month without pay to keep the shelter going. It's a move she says could save her from having to let people go.

Matos hopes fundraisers like the ones she has planned will also keep the specter of domestic violence on society's collective conscience. Years ago, domestic violence was a hot topic, Matos said. Times changed, and "well, we've gone off the radar," she said.

"I want violence to stop and I want women to be safe," she said. "Unfortunately, I've seen generations come through the door, so we're not breaking the cycle."