In early 1978 in Farmington, NM, Marge Atkinson and a few other women, started to take victims of domestic violence into their own homes to help them and try to keep them safe. They soon found out that they were now included in the crisis; during the next few years Marge Atkinson founded Marge Atkinson Home for Women and Children which became state funded and started the first protective shelter. The non-profit organization has helped to pioneer a model for empowering families of domestic violence to take control of their lives.

The center was started by a group of volunteers, and a modicum of information they obtained at a workshop in Wichita Kansas. The intention was to provide safety to women. The first shelter was very small, it was a one bedroom apartment with three beds, a living room, dinning room, kitchen, and a bathroom. The apartment had wall-to-wall bodies; wherever they could find space, whether on the floor or couch, a woman or child would be. The women there did not feel safe, because the neighborhood was scary to them.

The second shelter was a home belonging to Sacred Heart Church. Many of the women volunteers renovated it to help fit the growing needs. They even made the garage and the storage areas into bedrooms. This house marked the inception of their first shelter manager--someone to run things and provide support.

In 1984, through a HUD Block Grant from the City of Farmington, the Family Crisis Center obtained an official home. This home which is the current shelter can accommodate up to 26 people. The shelter provides a warm refuge, featuring four bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, dining area, two bathrooms, laundry room, and office space. Recent additions have been the play room a clean, bright refuge for the children. Other additions have been landscaping, a playground, and expanding the bedding capacity. The shelter grew to have two to three full-time staff, and many part-time advocates to serve the clients and shelters needs.

The central office for Family Crisis Center, which serves for administrative and counseling purposes, has had a variety of locations. The agency has set up offices all over town during the past fourteen years. Such places have been a Lutheran Church, a warehouse, and several businesses. Our current location was also donated by the City of Farmington. It serves many purposes with private offices to counsel the clients.

In the beginning, Family Crisis Center did very little counseling other than crisis level intervention. They referred many of their clients to San Juan Mental Health Center. A few years later, with the help of psychologist Harry Saslow, Bill Howard, a social worker, and a few other concerned community members, the agency decided to initiate a counseling program to deal with domestic violence issues. At this time, there were no available models to follow so the developed their own. This helped not only the protective shelter clients but allowed for other members of the community to get help.

Many programs developed over the course of the years, such as services for men, women, teens, and children. Once again the protective shelter and the main office locations have outgrown their space, and our needs are expanding daily. We have obtained land for Marge’s place and are building a new protective shelter for women, children, and men of domestic violence.