Abused Women’s Center Cuts Back : Social services: The San Fernando Valley’s only such residential shelter has had to lay off counselors. Now its school may have to be closed.

They have been shot at, stabbed, and beaten until their bones and spirits break.

Like hunted animals these women have lived in fear, running from one relative to another for shelter from abusive husbands and boyfriends.

Many had no place to turn until they discovered the Haven Hills Family Violence Center, which operates the San Fernando Valley’s only residential shelter for battered women.

But a decline in private and public funding has forced the center to reduce its services.

Two counselors have been laid off, and now an on-site school for the children of battered women will be closed unless the center raises enough money to offset cutbacks.

“Our grants have decreased. United Way has been cut and donations from the community are down,” said Judith Samuel, the center’s executive director.

Haven Hills, a private nonprofit organization, has operated in the Valley since 1977.

The center provides free food, clothing, counseling, job referrals, and most important, a safe place to live.

“Most of them have left and stayed with family and friends at other times in the past,” Samuel said.

“They’ve tried other things. . . . This is the end of the line.”

The location of the Haven Hills apartments, where women and children can live for up to 30 days, is kept secret to protect the women and their children.

Currently the children are educated at an on-site school, another safety precaution to ensure that the women will not be tracked down through the public schools.

“We’re one of the only shelters in Los Angeles with an on-site school,” Samuel said.

This year, Los Angeles County cut $10,000 from a yearly grant to Haven Hills, and other county funds were cut as well, Samuel said.

The United Way was forced to reduce its contribution when it fell short of its own projected fund-raising goal because of a faltering economy and an overall cutback in giving, said Dorothy Fleisher, director of planning and allocations for the region that includes the San Fernando Valley.

“It makes it really very hard because needs are increasing,” Fleisher said. “It’s just a very difficult time all around.”