SABRA Sanctuary officials breathed a sigh of relief when the state legislative session finished this year and their current funding remained untouched.

“This year we didn’t get cuts.” SABRA director Nancy Travis said. “Thank goodness.”

While the good news is the state didn’t cut SABRA any more, the bad news is, they’ve already cut SABRA’s budget 40 percent in the last two years. Combined with a 46 percent reduction in federal funding. Nancy Travis, Director of the domestic violence shelter, has to be creative about keeping things going.

“It’s still less than what we had, but we did not get cut more and we were very pleased about that,” Travis said.

While the state provides about $25,000 to the shelter, which serves Dallas, Wilcox and Perry Counties, the majority of SABRA’s funding comes from a crime victims assistance grant, which provides $118,000. Two years ago the grant provided $191,000.

“You can see the cut we’ve taken,” Travis said. “This is our major funding but since then we’ve had to search elsewhere.”

SABRA, the Selma and Black Belt Regional Abuse Sanctuary, provides shelter and counseling for women in abusive relationships. The organization also provides clothing, transportation and food for those who need it. The shelter is located in Dallas County, with an undisclosed address to protect its residents. Wilcox and Perry Counties both have advocates to provide service to its citizens.

Other funding, according to Travis, comes from the city of Selma, the Dallas County Commission and the United Way campaign. Smaller donations come from individuals and churches within the shelter’s service area.

State representative Yvonne Kennedy of Mobile sponsored a bill to attach a $32.50 filing fee to divorce cases. The bill was defeated in committee and didn’t’ make the final General Fund budget. If passed, it would have raised $75,000 for shelters statewide.

Because of all the cuts, SABRA has gotten creative about its funding sources.

“Thank goodness we’ve got some good people on (the Selma City Council) that include us in their discretionary funds,” Travis said.

The organization has asked and received funds this year from the city of Camden, who gave $1,000. In the past, Perry County distributed $2,500 to SABRA.

“We’re never sure what we’re going to get from those counties (Wilcox and Perry),” Travis said. “We’d like to get more because we’re there and we do serve them.”

Dallas County gave $10,000 this year.

Recently, the non-profit held an auction and raised $12,000. The group also applied for and received a grant from UPS, which provided enough funding for some renovations to the main office in Selma.

“We try to get as many small grants as we can,” Travis said.

The grant gave SABRA $25,000 solely to be spent on the building.

“We’ve used it to fix up,” Travis said. “We’re fixing to start painting. It’s helped us organize our clothing bank for our victims.”

To donate to SABRA, send a check or money order to P.O. Box 393, Selma, AL., 36702.

To get help from SABRA, call the 24-hour crisis hotline at 877-4645.

– the Associate Press contributed to this story.