Bright Future Foundation Breaks Ground
VAIL DAILY, August 27, 2020
by: John LaConte | jlaconte@vaildaily.com
* Bright Future Foundation breaks ground on new domestic abuse shelter in Eagle County
PHOTO: Community stakeholders break ground Tuesday on a years-long effort to create a permanent shelter for victims of domestic abuse in the Eagle County
Photo Credit: Dominique Taylor | Special to the Daily
A years-long effort to create a permanent shelter for victims of domestic abuse in Eagle County came to fruition with an official groundbreaking in Gypsum on Tuesday. The Bright Future Foundation, which operates the shelter, hosted the event, welcoming leaders and contributors from around the community who were involved in the project.
The BrightHouse will replace the aging Freedom Ranch safehouse, whose location was kept confidential since it began operating in 2002. That facility was located on government property, and the lease was not renewed, which spurred a multi-year effort to find a permanent replacement.
The BrightHouse will be an upgrade with greater capacity for families, offering shelter for 24 individuals and six families. The facility is intended to serve as temporary emergency housing while Bright Future Foundation staff advocates to help victims secure permanent and safe living arrangements. The BrightHouse will include common areas intended to engender community interaction, a children’s playground, garden, counseling and staff offices.
Increased need
Bright Future Foundation Executive Director said the foundation needs the BrightHouse now more than ever.
“Since the onset of covid, referrals through our 24/7 crisis hotline have increased by 50%, and our requests for housing assistance has increased by 122%,” it was said.
Finding safe housing for families fleeing from domestic violence has always been the most important mission of the Bright Future Foundation, and the Freedom Ranch safehouse has housed thousands of families since 2002. The BrightHouse will be the realization of a dream for the foundation since its inception in 1984.
By providing victims their own space to live in, but also having congregate spaces for further connection, and allowing pets, the BrightHouse will have all the elements which allow victims to have the freedom to choose how they wish to integrate into the shelter.
Eagle County’s mission statement, “Creating a better Eagle County for all,” aligns with the safe harbor services available at the Bright Future Foundation and the BrightHouse, McQueeney said.
“And then there’s a further objective, that says to expand services to meet the needs of vulnerable populations, so again, you can see the alignment that we see when we choose to support Bright Future Foundation,” McQueeney said. “It really does, as an organization, help us to achieve our goals … when we think about who we would be as a community, if our most vulnerable did not have a safe haven, who we would be as a community if we were not able to protect the most vulnerable.”
* staff names removed for privacy / some quotes removed from originally published story