The Cocoon Shelter

“The friends of cocoon is a membership group that exists to provide financial support to the cocoon shelter and its board of directors for the purpose of ensuring optimal support to victims of domestic violence.”

“The treasurer and finance committee review the form in detail. The entire board reviews the form at a board meeting.”

“Organization's board of directors annually reviews conflict of interest policy. Each board member and/or employee signs an agreement to confirm no conflict of interest and/or identify interests that could give rise to conflicts. Executive committee of the board monitors compliance with this policy.”

“Executive committee has reviewed comparable data for executive director position in the past. This is done as there are new hires.”

“Officers are not paid. No employee meets the definition of "key employee."”

“Form 990 is available on the cocoon shelter website, on another's website, and upon request. Form 1023 and governing documents are available upon request.”

“History the cocoon shelter is the first and only shelter for victims of domestic violence located in wood county. Incorporated in 2004, after many years of grassroots organizing and community collaboration, the cocoon opened its doors on june 14, 2005. Prior to this time, victims in wood county needing shelter were forced to flee their homes, lose their personal support systems, and travel long distances to shelters, primarily in fostoria, toledo, and findlay. . In july 2012, the cocoon shelter implemented the largest program expansion since opening our doors in order to provide comprehensive services for victims of domestic violence and their children, regardless of their need for shelter. The expansion was intended to increase safety and access to resources and services for victims of abuse, to strengthen the coordinated community response to domestic violence in wood county, and to alleviate duplication of services. . During 2013, the cocoon shelter served 535 victims of abuse and responded to 3,895 requests for services from victims of abuse and their children, demonstrating that since our expansion to provide comprehensive services to all victims of domestic violence, we have seen a 13-fold increase in requests for services in our first full year of expansion. On average, cocoon shelter staff assist 12 victims of abuse per day in achieving safety, and typically provide advocacy and support in the process of obtaining civil protection orders at least once a day. The increase in number of cpos provided with the assistance of cocoon advocates has resulted in a significant number of victims being able to remain in safe and stable housing. During 2013, the cocoon housed 50 victims of abuse and their children for a total of 1950 nights of safe emergency housing. 85% of those housed moved into permanent housing, almost a 3-fold increase from prior years. In addition, we have increased diversity of those housed, including adult male and transgender victims with children. This long-term stability not only has a great impact for the victims of abuse and their children, but on the community at large, as it reduces the economic impact of domestic violence. This is a decrease in emergency housing provided from prior years. There are a few key factors that affected this decrease in emergency housing provided. We housed mostly single adult victims and fewer children during 2013. This has a significant impact on beds utilized as larger families obviously increase the number of beds and nights per stay. We are not seeing a reason for this trend, however we continue to track it to ensure shelter is available to families with children. We also had some significant facility repairs that resulted in having less housing space available periodically in order to provide those repairs. . Services the cocoon shelter is committed to providing safe emergency housing and comprehensive support services to victims of domestic violence and their children at no cost. The shelter and support services are accessible 24 hours a day. We utilize the local and long-established crisis hotline, the link, as our "entry point" for services. Victims of abuse and their children seeking services are provided with a variety of service, including: in-depth safety planning; advocacy and support; assistance with civil protection orders and crime victim compensation applications, advocacy in the courts, support and educational groups, support at pre- trial hearings, face-to-face and phone crisis intervention; provision of emergency food, clothing, and personal care items; transportation and access to transportation; case management; budgeting assistance; economic empowerment and financial literacy programs; computer use and internet access; assistance in finding financial, medical, legal, and housing assistance; information and referrals to specialized community resources; and follow-up/outreach services for survivors who have left shelter or need ongoing services. Curren”