GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. -- Unless Congress acts fast, cuts are coming across the board, including funding to protect victims of domestic violence.
"I never want to look at it and say we have the money to serve this one but not this one. How do you make that choice?" questioned Quigley House CEO Peggy Payne.
Quigley House is designed to help victims of domestic violence. Payne knows how important centers like hers are. Once, she needed it herself.
"This is their last option. They have no where else to go."
Now some of that help will be cut Friday if Congress doesn't find a way to stop federal budget cuts. In Florida, that means the STOP Violence Against Women Program funds will be chopped by $404,000 and according to the White House, 1,500 Sunshine State victims won't be able to get the help they need.
"As a survivor if I had to call for help and somebody would have said I'm sorry we need to put you on a waiting list, I would have been like, you know, what's the point of calling?" Payne said.
Quigley House doesn't currently receive federal funds for the Violence Against Women Program. But Payne has sat on the board fighting for that money. She says she can't believe funding for something so critical is on the list at all.
"Domestic violence is not a Republican issue. It's not a Democratic issue. It is a people issue. That's a person."
Folks at Quigley House say they're worried cutting funding now will make it difficult for them to get funding down the line when they need it.
