Peaceful Paths reaches out to City and County Commissioners for “stop gap funding”
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
Theresa Beachy, Executive Director of Peaceful Paths Domestic Abuse Network, Inc., sent an email yesterday to the Alachua County Commission and Gainesville City Commission, along with various city and county officials, requesting “short term stop gap funding.”
Peaceful Paths receives its funding from the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (FCADV), which is under investigation for paying a reported $7 million over 3 years to its Executive Director. Beachy herself is under subpoena from the Florida House of Representatives because she is on the Board of FCADV.
The Florida House is expected to vote today on legislation that would remove FCADV’s status as a single-source recipient for all state domestic violence funds and move the funding to the Department of Children and Families. It will become effective on signing, which is expected to be Friday.
Beachy wrote, “As of that date , there is no mechanism for any of the 42 centers to receive their current and outstanding core funding. Historically, these funds are typically in arrears 30-45 days, and the agency carries LOCs to manage this, but this transition due to the extreme politics and logistics could last 120-150 days. We do not have the current cash flow or access to credit to manage that level of funding interruption.”
The email continues, “We are hoping that you could help us secure funding of $350,000-$700,000 and be available for the next 6 months. By then we are confident that contract will have been worked out and funding will have resumed normally. Funding could then be returned once invoices are paid.  Unless funding is found locally, and we are working through a variety of contacts, there is a real possibility that services could be severely interrupted. Anything you could do to help (including suspending utility payments) would be greatly appreciated in this extreme crisis.”
Alachua County currently has a similar arrangement with CareerSource, which is also under investigation by the State.