A local organization committed to helping abused women and children is having its own crisis. Abused Women Aid In Crisis (AWAIC) has reached capacity, according to Judy Cordell who is executive director of AWAIC. Ninety people are living in the facility equipped with only 52 beds. Among those are five expectant mothers and two newborns.

“This is our turn away point for secure shelter. We are working all of our contingency plans currently, but domestic violence victims have specific safety concerns which can be a real threat to helpful bystanders,” said Cordell.

Thompson & Co. Public Relations is helping to spread the word in the community and posted a written plea for help by Cordell on Facebook. In the plea, Cordell wrote about challenges such as threats to staff members and limited employees stretched to the limit on the night shift. In the midst of these challenges, Cordell pointed out there is still a dire need for services AWAIC provides.

“This week we had a young mother report that she slept the night with her baby in the Holiday gas station bathroom prior to contacting us,” she said.

Among many things, AWAIC needs maternity and infant items, monetary donations and gift cards from Target, Fred Meyer, or Wal-Mart. AWAIC is located at 100 W. 13th Avenue (13th Avenue between A and C Streets) in Anchorage. The phone number is (907) 279-9581 or visit www.awaic.org.