SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Sojourn Shelter in Sangamon County was one of 70 organizations to received a portion of $14 million in grant funding from Governor JB Pritzker, the Department of Human Services (IDHS), and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). 

Sojourn Shelter is the only domestic violence shelter in Sangamon, Logan, Menard, Christian, and Montgomery Counties. The shelter serves about 7,000 people a year with 3,200 calls to their domestic violence emergency hotline annually. 

Sojourn Shelter CEO Angela Bertoni says the grant will help with much needed improvements to the decades old building. 

"Our flooring has gotten a lot of wear and tear over the years so we're going to do some upgrades to that," said Bertoni. "And we've had a lot more clients staying with us and we've had a lot more staff over the year, so our parking is getting really, really tight. So we're going to expand the parking area as well and make sure that everything is ADA compliant and welcoming for all the clients who need our services."

A priority for the shelter is improving flooring throughout the facility. Because the facility has so much foot traffic, there are several areas where the carpet is ripping or the tile is coming up. 

Bertoni says the goal of these upgrades is to make people feel more comfortable in the shelter space. Right now, adjoining rooms share bathrooms. Bertoni wants to split the bathroom spaces so each room has an individual bathroom space. 

"We also provide a 32 bed shelter currently, which we're hoping by redoing the restrooms, we'll be able to expand that to 40 beds," said Bertoni. "Anytime that someone needs safe shelter, they can call our hotline or they can just show up to our door 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, we never close, and they can get safe sheltering."

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