SALISBURY — The Family Crisis Council of Rowan announced the launch of a large-scale three-year fundraising campaign during its Community Appreciation Breakfast on Friday.

The campaign will officially kick off on Mother’s Day and will have a goal of $1 million.

“This campaign is extremely significant and desperately needed. Most of you know the government grants that support so many nonprofits throughout the country, government work is a little precarious these days, and it’s really important that we increase and diversify our income streams, and that’s one of the reasons we are trying to be as proactive and progressive as possible,” said Executive Director Angela Chapman-McDavid.

She added that the campaign will not just look for individual donors, but spread the ask around to corporations and foundational grants as well.

In addition to the uncertainty surrounding federal and other forms of grant funding, Chapman-McDavid said that the organization continues to grow its efforts to serve the community. Combine that with the annually-increasing incidences of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking and the organization needed to increase its revenues, said Chapman-McDavid. The number of victims the organization supports has jumped from 800 to 1,000 in recent years.

“These numbers are not decreasing. COVID didn’t make it get better, if anything it made them increase. And after COVID, it’s continued to increase. Unfortunately, we don’t expect it to start to decrease anytime soon, and there’s a couple of reasons for that. One is that there’s more awareness in the community now, so people are starting to feel a little more comfortable coming forward and getting help,” said Chapman-McDavid.

The organization operates a 24-hour crisis line where anyone can talk to trained advocates at any time, even on holidays or other conventional non-business times. The crisis line is 704-636-4718, extension 1.

Family Crisis Council also operates an emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence who need temporary housing, which is in an undisclosed location. People can be connected to the shelter via the crisis line. When they arrive, they are connected with an on-site case manager, who assists them with anything they need. Several common needs that the organization can help with include getting new Social Security cards or birth certificates, which can get left behind as people leave the dangerous situation.

The organization also has a hospital advocate that can meet victims at Novant Hospital and can help victims through the tough process of forensic testing as well as provide any clothing that might be needed.

Of course, all of that costs money.

“We have to be there. That is not optional. We absolutely have to be here to support these people, because when we think about not providing the support that’s needed, there are exponential effects, crime rates go up more, more homicides, more assaults. There’s just so much that happens, and it doesn’t just affect the family, it affects the entire community,” said Chapman-McDavid.

During the Community Appreciation Breakfast, the organization also took the time to announce its annual award winners, the people who went above and beyond in helping Family Crisis Council serve the community. Darrell Shell received the Champion of Hope award, Ryan Stowe received the Advocate for Justice Award and the Legacy Leadership Award was given to former Executive Director Renee Bradshaw.

“The mission for FCC was my mission for 10 years, and it did not go away just because I retired,” said Bradshaw. “We cannot let our community down. We cannot turn our backs on the many abused victims and close the door.”