The new non-profit organization, Neighbors Care, wants to open a women’s shelter in Opelousas. Their goal is to help women who have found themselves in need of help because of domestic violence.

Statistics show that domestic violence experience is common among women and families who become homeless.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, for many women, domestic violence is the immediate cause of their homelessness.

For the past year, Rev. Alex Richard and Dr. Ron Ceasar say they’ve noticed an increase in the number of homeless women in the area.

“Women have been showing up for services on bicycles, walking with two and three bags of clothes, coming to us, telling us their plight,” says Ceasar, “It’s heartbreaking to see.”

They pair decided to take action once they realized the need for help. “We are now a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation,” explains Richard. “And we are here to get the women into a shelter.”

Ceasar adds, “This women’s shelter is mainly targetting women in temporary need for 90 days who have come out of a domestic violence situation. Battered women and women who are homeless perhaps separated with a couple of children, we’re trying to help them into a situation for at least 90 days.”

Now that the pair has established the non-profit organization, they’re ready to bring their plan to fruition and they’re asking for the public’s help.

The first thing they need is a building, says Ceasar. “If someone has a building which they think could start off with maybe six to ten people that we could help out and they wanted to donate it, lease it or whatever, that would be great.”

They will also be holding a fundraiser next month to help with the creation of this shelter.
Anyone interested in helping can contact them at (225)-287-3383.