HAYS CALDWELL WOMEN’S CENTER
One in four adult women in the U.S. have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime, according to data from the National Domestic Violence Hotline. When violence occurs behind closed doors, the Hays Caldwell Women’s Center opens theirs, offering recovery, support and stability for victims of domestic abuse. The HCWC has been empowering survivors of abuse since 1978, serving hundreds of women and children in the Hays and Caldwell counties. Their hard work is being recognized by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas who has awarded HCWC a Blue Impact grant to support Marla’s Place, which is a safe housing program for survivors of violence.
“Throughout our 95 years of serving Texas, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas remains committed to the belief that lasting change is built through collective action and community-driven solutions,” BCBSTX President Jim Springfield said. “We’re honored to support organizations like Hays Caldwell Women’s Center in their focus on affordable, healthy housing for survivors of violence. We know by empowering their expertise and passion to strengthen the San Marcos community’s neighborhoods and built environment, we’re helping inspire healthier futures.”
With more than $300,000 going to Central Texas grantees, the initiative supports hunger relief, career development, housing stability, mobile mammography, mental health access and more.
This funding is part of a $2 million commitment by BCBSTX to improve neighborhood environments and community health through support for locally led programs.
Marla’s Place is the HCWC’s newest program, which opened in 2022 and is a transitional housing apartment complex. The program was named after Marla R. Johnson who was the previous executive director of HCWC who served the community for 28 years. Her vision was to build a safe haven for families to get a new start to life after escaping domestic violence in their home.
The apartment complex has 17 units and houses mostly composed of mothers with at least one child from zero to three years old. Some of the families have transitioned into Marla’s Place from the emergency shelter, which is another resource that HCWC provides. The complex provides affordable housing to those most in need while also allowing access to their Head Start program which provides free quality child care.
“One of the trends we were seeing was that a lot of survivors were going back to abusive homes because they couldn’t afford to live on their own, and moms, particularly of young children, were more vulnerable because of the added cost of childcare,” HCWC Chief Executive Officer Melissa Rodriguez said.
In addition to housing and childcare, the HCWC team offers bilingual advocates that provide case management and help residents on their individual goals.
“We want to provide them the time and support they need to obtain self sufficiency on their own, and we want to provide a safe environment for those kiddos,” Rodriguez said.
The kids were the biggest inspiration for developing Marla’s Place.
“Kids who experience ongoing trauma tend to face bigger barriers as they grow and develop, and research and science has shown us that it can have a major effect on not just their livelihood but also their physical health,” Rodriguez said.
By interrupting that cycle of violence, HCWC can make an enormous difference in the lives of the children who reside at Marla’s Place.
When Marla’s Place was first founded, Miriam Mc-Coy donated half a million of her own money to build the apartments and fund the program.
“One of the things that most people don’t know about working in this space, providing transitional housing, is that there is no dedicated funding for programming. It’s also quite expensive to provide all the things that the clients need while they live with us,” Rodrigues said. “From the point we built the facility, every year we are looking for opportunities on how we are going to keep paying for it, for sustainability.”
HCWC funds the program through donations or grants such as the Blue Impact grant.
“We are the only provider in our community that has transitional housing for victims of domestic violence, and we are also the only organization that has an on-site Head Start childcare program inside our apartment complex in the nation,” Rodriguez said.
Another important component of the program is their high level of security.
“When victims leave abusers — either in the process of leaving or after having left — they are at the highest risk of lethal danger,” Rodriguez said.
HCWC has many relationships with the community such as the Hays County Food Bank, which donates fresh food weekly. They have a donation center on site that has items such as clothing, housewares, diapers and other necessities donated by the community. The center raises funds through the PUT Classic, which is an annual charity golf tournament founded by the family of Justin Putnam who was a San Marcos Police Officer killed in the line of duty when responding to a domestic violence call in 2020.
“Those funds go toward things like buying clothes for school when they’re going back to school, or right now with the summer, we’ve been paying for things like summer camps and signing up kids for sports or dance. Anything that helps kids … have access to all the things that other kids have access to,” Rodriguez said. “We are really fortunate to have a lot of different community partners come together to make that program a success, but it’s definitely something we’re always working on.”
For more information on how to support HCWC, how to volunteer, how to attend an event or how to access their resources one can visit hcwc.org On the homepage there is a virtual tour of Marla’s Place and the other resources provided by HCWC.
“We added that component because I think people, especially when they’re in need, have a lot of preconceived ideas of what this place is, and especially with the shelter and Marla’s Place, they could think it’s institutional or intimidating,” Rodriguez said. “We provided the virtual tour so people can see what it looks like and so they can see that it’s a home and it’s warm and inviting.”
Rodriguez said HCWC’s mission is rooted in ending violence in the community.
“We also have a very robust prevention education program as well because this is also our mission, preventing violence and dismantling the systems that have created these things from the beginning altogether,” Rodriguez said.
The HCWC offers a 24/7 helpline at 512-3964357. One can sign up for their newsletter online at hcwc.org, which provides information on how to donate, links to their podcast, upcoming events, job opportunities and downloadable toolkits.
