Sarita Drake, director of the House of Grace, briefed the Tunica County Board of Supervisors on Monday about the shelter’s services, recent capacity and client needs, and asked for continued community and county support.

Why it matters: House of Grace provides emergency shelter and services to victims of domestic violence in multiple counties, including Tunica. County support, referrals and coordination affect the ability of the shelter to place clients in safe housing and provide wraparound services.

Drake said the shelter is a 12-bed emergency facility (a house roughly 50 years old), typically offers stays of 30 to 45 days and sometimes longer when language or other barriers require extended casework. She told the board the shelter provides 24-hour crisis hotline services, domestic-violence counseling (including trauma-certified counseling), case management, transportation assistance, assistance with identification documents and limited financial help for rental deposits, utilities and travel when necessary.

Drake said the shelter served 12 families from Tunica County in the past eight months and that staff make case-by-case determinations about referrals to longer-term programs when available. She described outreach and partners the shelter uses, including telehealth services arranged through the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the Mississippi Public Health Institute.

Board members asked about the shelter’s location; Drake said the facility is in DeSoto County and is a “hidden” shelter location (standard practice for domestic-violence shelters). Drake repeatedly thanked Tunica County and local churches for support and said that all donations and county funds are used directly for client needs.

There was no board action recorded on the request at the meeting.

What’s next: Drake distributed brochures and contact information; the transcript does not record a formal funding vote or immediate appropriation.