Citing “resource constraints”, 360 Communities has announced that it will close its Lewis House domestic and sexual violence shelter in Hastings and reduce staffing in its violence prevention and intervention program by mid-November. CEO Jeff Mortensen commented that critical funding is not keeping pace with the rising cost of operations. Lewis House primarily relied on a grant from the Minnesota Office of Justice Programs (OJP), a Minnesota Department of Public Safety division, as their main funding source. This grant is comprised of both federal and state dollars to support crime victims. In its latest OJP grant application, 360 Communities requested the funding needed to sustain services, considering the additional costs incurred for program operations and staffing over the last six years. However, the grant award did not reflect the new request.
