True North moves closer to opening its larger advocacy center

True North , a domestic and sexual violence shelter and human services agency, is nearing the opening of its new and larger advocacy center.

The agency held a ribbon-cutting on the new center Tuesday at 1901 Pennsylvania Drive in Columbia. The new advocacy center will house a majority of True North's operations. The emergency shelter space will remain at a different, undisclosed location.

True North currently operates from a 3,000 square foot space. This has meant people are sharing offices or some staff even are working from home.

Once renovations are finished by the end of the year at the Pennsylvania Drive location, the agency will have roughly 8,000 square feet in which to work. Service operation will start from the new location in early 2025. The facility itself is about 16,000 square feet, so True North is working toward a second-phase expansion within the next couple of years, said Michele Snodderley, executive director.

There will be multiple offices and spaces for all the services offered by True North, including case management and counseling. Another service includes court services, such as helping a person get protection orders, attending court with individuals, helping with victim-impact statements and more. True North has about 40 staff members, a large board of directors and large team of volunteers.

"There are four offices specific for counseling that will be sound proofed," Snodderley said, adding an open space will have administrative staff offices as well as the crisis line. "We are moving a lot of our nonresidential services here. ... We do more nonresidential service than we do on emergency services.

"Men and women can access services. They also both can get emergency shelter if needed. That is something we try to make sure everybody knows that we serve men, just like we serve women as well as those with children."

A service expansion is highly important for counseling as there currently is a three-month wait list, Snodderley said.

There also is a resident and community engagement coordinator. His tasks include connecting shelter residents with community resources, as well as making presentations in the community, such as at schools, in conjunction with True North's volunteer and training coordinator.

"We have presented at almost every high school in Boone County to sophomores and seniors about healthy relationships. We most recently spoke to the University of Missouri Football team," Snodderley said.

True North also seeks grants so it can provide legal help and representation and more prevention outreach. A big chunk of the funds for True North to conduct its service and space expansion came from the Veterans United Foundation, which in late 2021 provided a $1.25 million grant. It was officially awarded in early 2022 . A likely different grant from Veterans United will allow True North to create a case manager position that exclusively works with veterans.

More: New True North Director Michele Snodderley focused on advocacy center expansion

True North also has received an American Rescue Plan Act allocation, but it is going toward emergency housing services, rather than advocacy center renovations, Snodderley said.

The agency responded to roughly 8,000 service calls two years ago, where 6,000 of those were support services, so counseling, court services, case management, groups and outreach. Support service requests hit 16,000 last year and True North is on track to hit that number this year, Snodderely said.

"That is without the expansion," she said. "This (will be) the hub of anything outside of shelter needs. ... These services didn't exist when I was going through things . This is what I have always wanted to work toward."

More: True North will expand services with $1.25 million donation from Veterans United Foundation

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on X, formerly Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: True North moves closer to opening its larger advocacy center