Hard Work Pays Off for Backers of Women’s Shelter : Violence: A San Clemente group can now buy a home where abuse victims will feel safe.

It was a journey that began with the fists of countless abusive men, and now it is reaching the end.

After a year of charity golf tournaments, baked potato sales and just plain begging for donations, enough money has been raised to buy a shelter for battered women in San Clemente.

With an $80,000 shelter fund, the board of directors for Laura’s House agreed Tuesday night to bid on a four-bedroom duplex to provide a refuge for victims of domestic violence.

“It’s the culmination of everything we’ve worked for, the big goal,” acting board chairperson Peggy Stroud said Wednesday.

The organization behind Laura’s House hopes to close escrow within 60 days and open the shelter shortly afterward, providing refuge for up to eight women and their children at a time.

With their big dream nearly realized, organizers are busily dreaming again.

Having an established shelter opens the door for federal and state grants that aren’t available to fledgling organizations.

With a steady source of income, “we’d like to build more shelters, maybe a maximum of 24 units,” said Stroud. “These women come to us scared, with nothing. It takes money to help them.”

Named after an alleged victim of domestic violence who died in 1992, Laura’s House was a group that just one year ago fought hard for recognition, money and a place to operate.

The campaign took a big step forward last June, when the group opened a drop-in center at a storefront in San Clemente.

All of a sudden, the drive against domestic violence in South County was tangible. Women being physically abused could finally find help in getting a restraining order, a safe place to stay, counseling and a sympathetic ear.

About five women walk through the center’s door each week. Frightened and sometimes trembling, the women are led to a secluded room, seated on a comfortable couch and wrapped in a hand-knit blanket.

“Our first priority is to make them feel safe,” director Sandy Candello said. “Then we make sure they really are safe.”

Sometimes, a rare shelter bed has been available--there are only three shelters with 86 beds throughout Orange County.

More often, women and their children are put up in a hotel and given food and clothing vouchers. The only requirement is that they enroll in weekly counseling sessions at the drop-in center. A counselor is also sent to their hotel room twice a week.

However, for most women, the center acts as an information clearinghouse.

“I’d say one out of 10 women wants to go to a shelter,” Candello said. “The rest just want to talk and find out what they can do about their situation.”

Callers usually speak with one of about 70 volunteers who have been the driving force behind the successful fund-raising effort, manning booths at countless school bazaars and other charity events.

“I serve on many, many nonprofits,” Stroud said. “I’ve never seen an organization so dedicated to a cause.”

The motivation for many Laura’s House volunteers goes far beyond recognizing a social need. Many have also felt the impact of a man’s fist sometime in their lives.

Candello was beaten at home and grew into a series of relationships with abusive boyfriends.

“Several of us have been through the wars,” she said. “I’ve seen my mother beaten with a shotgun so badly I couldn’t recognize her. When you have an image like that in your mind, it never goes away.”

Candello estimated that slightly more than half the group’s volunteers have been in an abusive relationship or seen a close family member become the victim of domestic violence.

“This has been a driving force for us,” Stroud said. “So many people have a sister or mother who is being brutalized. There is a need for us.”