Hogar Ruth to build pioneering integrated services center in Vega Baja.

Hogar Ruth Executive Director Lisdel Flores Barger said the organization’s integrated services center project is “a strategic, visionary, and profoundly humane investment that will set a new standard of care and support for women who experience domestic and sexual violence in Puerto Rico.”

By THE STAR STAFF

Community service organization Hogar Ruth will begin work this month to build a new integrated services center at a cost of $3.5 million, which will transform the way victims of domestic violence and sexual assault receive support in Puerto Rico.

“With this center, Hogar Ruth will take an unprecedented step to ensure that every survivor can access, in one place, all the necessary tools for their safety, protection, recovery, and stability,” Hogar Ruth Executive Director Lisdel Flores Barger said. “This is a strategic, visionary, and profoundly humane investment that will set a new standard of care and support for women who experience domestic and sexual violence in Puerto Rico.”

The three-story center will be the first facility on the island to offer legal, forensic, health, housing, crisis intervention and specialized support services under one roof.

“The design ensures that a victim doesn’t have to travel to multiple agencies to receive the help they need; instead, they will find all the necessary safety, protection, and recovery resources in one place,” Flores Barger noted. “This will be a replicable model that will raise the standards of care nationwide.”

A building and land in the urban center of Vega Alta was donated for the project. Of the $3.5 million required for the project, the first $2 million has already been secured through a special appropriation granted by the United States Congress. Those funds will cover the initial phase, which includes architectural planning and design, permits and regulatory compliance, site development and the initial construction phase. Demolition of the existing building begins this week to make way for construction. Completion of the project is estimated for the end of 2027.

“This initial investment confirms that the project has a solid financial foundation and demonstrates Hogar Ruth’s organizational capacity to execute a project of this magnitude,” said Flores Barger, who is making proposals and requesting donations to cover the final phase of the center.

A significant investment in the center will come from Kilometers of Change, the three-day relay race taking place from May 15-17 through 21 municipalities to raise funds for domestic violence shelters. This year, due to the scale of the center project, half of the proceeds will go to the Hogar Ruth initiative.

The center will have three levels, the first of which is reserved for parking and designed to offer accessibility, privacy and protection to victims from the moment they arrive, security being paramount in the project.

The second level will house legal, forensic and health services, including a courtroom-style room for protection order hearings, allowing victims to attend hearings in a safe and confidential environment without being exposed to additional risks. There will also be forensic interview rooms, suitable for handling cases of sexual assault, abuse, and other situations requiring trauma-sensitive interventions.

The second level will also include the health services area, for medical evaluations, psychological first aid, and other interventions to stabilize the victim, as well as the initial intervention and counseling rooms, which will serve as an entry point and rapid assessment area to connect each person with the array of services offered on the third level.