Local officials have broken ground on a new domestic violence shelter in Denton, just in time for the holiday season, which brings joy for many but increased domestic violence for others.
Officials gathered with Denton County Friends of the Family on October 27 to break ground on a new Family Justice Center in Denton. The campus will shelter victims of domestic and sexual assault, aiming to provide safety, stability, and healing.
“The new Family Justice Center is more than bricks and mortar. It’s going to represent every woman, and children, who will walk a dark day through its doors. They’re scared and they’re uncertain, but they’re ready to take that first step toward their freedom,” said Lisa Stanley, DCFF board chair, in the ceremony. “They are not alone. They matter.”
The groundbreaking comes ahead of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season, when domestic violence surges, according to the nonprofit Connections for Abused Women and Their Children. Financial and emotional stress, alcohol consumption, limited access to support, family tensions, and apparent “togetherness” can lay the groundwork for abuse.
The center, off N. Bonnie Brae Street, hopes to open in 2026 and will include law enforcement, legal aid, counseling, and housing support. According to the Denton Record-Chronicle, the 60,000-square-foot facility will also offer a courtroom, a secure child visitation area, a job-training area, an animal shelter, and even a hair salon.
During the ceremony, nonprofit leaders stood with county leaders, including Judge Andy Eads, Commissioners Bobbie Mitchell and Diane Edmondson, and District Attorney Paul Johnson. Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth, Lewisville Mayor Pro Tem Ronni Cade, and members of the Rayzor family – which owned the land that is now the Rayzor Ranch area – also attended.
“We want this to be the very best center you can build,” Eads said. “I want this to be the place that centers come from all over the United States – not just Texas, all over the United States – to come see how they too can change lives.”
Hudspeth thanked volunteers, law enforcement, and city council members for their support.
“It is truly a blessing, not only for that organization, but for the City of Denton,” he said. “They usher people in to where it’s safe, so that they can be out of the storm.”
Stanley said she first entered DCFF’s doors as a client in 2006, where she and her son witnessed the group’s efforts firsthand.
“It was the way that the kind words, the safe spaces, and the helping hands helped to change the course of our lives,” she said. “I experienced the quiet strength of staff and volunteers who showed me that hope is something we can hold on to, even when we think it’s a dark moment.”
Now, 19 years later, Stanley chairs the board, which she calls humbling.
“It’s living proof that lives heal, cycles break, and hope grows,” she said.
More than 300 people attended the groundbreaking. The Rayzor family helped initiate the project, with support from the Denton County Commissioners and Denton City Council. The DCFF also thanked community partners, donors, board members, and local law enforcement – including the Argyle, Krum, Lewisville, Denton, and The Colony police departments.
Denton County Commissioners pledged $8 million to the project, while Denton pledged more than $400,000, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle. In 2022, the J. Newton Rayzor Foundation donated 6.5 acres of land for the center. In March, the Denton City Council rezoned the land for the shelter’s use.
The Denton County District Attorney’s office said Johnson was “honored” to join the ceremony, and the office is proud to partner with the nonprofit to seek justice and healing for domestic violence victims.
DCFF reported a 17% increase in domestic violence reported to police from 2022 to 2023, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle. According to the group’s 2024 report, it answered 6,369 crisis calls and 152 texts that year, and sheltered 137 adults and 62 children, totaling 11,332 nights.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, honoring abuse survivors. As The Dallas Express previously reported, President Donald Trump marked the month by pledging to enforce immigration laws more rigorously, support law enforcement, and advance digital safety reforms.
To close the groundbreaking, Mitchell issued a benediction, praying for God’s blessing on the center and those it will serve.
“Giving God all the honor and all the praises because he’s worthy to be praised, lifting him up and magnifying his name, because he’s so good and he’s so kind and he’s so merciful,” Mitchell said. “Lord, we bless this land. Everything we know if you bless, it is blessed. We don’t have to worry about it.”