Golden House launches $9.4 million campaign for new building

GREEN BAY — Golden House has launched the public phase of its On the Rise Campaign to raise $9.4 million, in part to build a new 34,000-square-foot facility at the site of its current building, 1120 University Ave.

To date, nearly $7 million has been raised by local individuals and organizations to create the Golden House Donald J. Schneider Family Residence Center and Mulva Family Foundation Outreach Center.

“Our current facility has reached a tipping point,” said Golden House Executive Director Cheeia Lo. “The newly designed facility will allow us to serve more people, whether it’s providing a safe place to stay or providing much-needed counseling.”

Incidents of domestic violence continue to increase in Brown County, putting stress on the capacity of current services and programs.

In 2021, county law enforcement responded to 869 reported incidents of domestic violence, and Golden House provided emergency shelter, advocacy support services and crisis hotline response to more than 4,700 victims.

Golden House Development Director Dina Borremans said the fundraising campaign will ensure the organization meets the needs of domestic violence victims in Brown County.

A lack of capacity has forced the shelter to deny onsite temporary housing for an average of 292 victims each year, including 117 households with 146 children.

“Our current building opened in 1993 with the capacity of housing up to 40 domestic violence victims. We have surpassed that,” Borremans said. “The On the Rise campaign will double Golden House’s capacity by adding nine more bedrooms, providing more than 6,000 additional nights of shelter for more than 150 victims each year.”

According to Jim Greene, CEO of WG&R Furniture and On the Rise campaign co-chair,
the new building will also provide a higher level of security and privacy that best protects a victim’s right to confidentiality and respect.

Golden House’s new building will include space for client programming, emergency and residential living space.

The new facility also increases outreach office space, providing the organization more opportunities for advocacy and mental health services, collaborative wellness and educational opportunities, prevention activities for children experiencing domestic violence and survivor-driven support programming.

“We knew we had a space crunch and the time to build a larger facility is now,” said Sara Abel, who works at Schreiber and serves as Golden House board chair and On the Rise campaign co-chair. “We originally launched On the Rise quietly and have been blessed with generous donors who understand our increased demand for services. In an ideal world, we would not need to expand because domestic violence is decreasing in our area, but that’s not the case.”

Golden House will build its new facility at its current site with construction beginning this fall, with an expected completion in nine to 12 months.

Immel Construction is the project’s general contractor and Berners Schober serves as architect.

While the current building is demolished and the new one is constructed, Golden House has an interim plan to continue providing care with a safe emergency shelter location on Green Bay’s west side while outreach services will remain open to individuals by appointment or walk-in basis in office space provided by Bellin Health.

Both locations have security measures in line with current protocols, allowing Golden House to continue its mission to provide safety and support to all those seeking help.

The nonprofit is not being charged for rent at either location.

“It is amazing we have already reached 70 percent of our goal, and by launching the public phase of On the Rise we hope to get more community members and organizations involved to reach our goal,” Borremans said.

About Golden House 
What started as a 24-hour telephone helpline in 1979 to assist victims of domestic abuse in finding a safe place to stay has evolved into a comprehensive program that serves, helps and protects victims of domestic violence in Brown County and their families.

Golden House is a nonprofit whose mission is to provide safety and support for victims of domestic abuse while leading efforts to end domestic violence in our community.

Since 1993, Golden House has operated a facility at 1120 University Ave. on Green Bay’s northeast side that includes an emergency shelter for women, men and children.

The shelter is among several free and confidential safety, support, housing and prevention education services provided by Golden House to victims of domestic violence.

Learn more at goldenhousegb.org.