PRINCE EDWARD – Madeline's House needs a new home.

Twelve participating counties are being asked to pitch in to help with the down payment on a new property. County Supervisors, at their September 11 meeting, agreed to chip in the $3,000 contingent upon the participation of the other localities.

“As early as Spring 2013, Southside Center for Violence Prevention, Inc. (SCVP) – Madeline's House – Piedmont Crisis Center will be displaced from its current shelter location,” a memo from the organization cited. “The building currently serving as the safe house for victims of domestic and sexual violence is owned by Nottoway County. Nottoway County has been in negotiations with and has offered much of their Pickett Park property, including the safe house location, to the Department of State for a large training center known as FASTC (Foreign Affairs Security Training Center). It is fully anticipated that this sale will take place in the very near future, and that Madeline's House will be served notice to move.”

The current Madeline's House site has been used rent-free for the past 13 years.

County Administrator Wade Bartlett reported that they have located a new home and that the cost of the property is $160,000.

The proposed new site, Madeline's House also cited, is an existing building that can accommodate up to 16 individuals in crisis and has options for future expansion.

The 12 localities are expected to be asked to chip in $3,000 each for the down payment.

“I asked how they could pay the mortgage,” Bartlett told the board. “They basically responded that the current building that they're in is one of the old buildings on Fort Pickett – very little insulation and a high operating cost. This building that…they found has just recently been renovated. It's very cost efficient and they said…the savings from the day to day operation -it's smaller, also – would allow them to make the mortgage payments.”

While it's uncertain exactly when they would have to move, he told the board members, “I think they'd like to move sooner rather than later if they can close on this property.”

The board's $3,000 commitment, contingent on the participation of the other localities, was unanimously approved.