Ada County severs ties with Faces of Hope Foundation, orders it out of Boise building
The Faces of Hope Foundation, which has operated out of the Faces Victim Center in an Ada County-owned building on 6th Street in Boise since 2006, has been ordered to leave by the end of January.
The Ada County Commission on Friday ended the county’s partnership with the Faces of Hope Foundation, citing what was called a lack of cooperation from the foundation board.
The county owns the Faces Victim Center, which opened in 2006, and leases its building space to entities that provide services to victims of abuse and violence. For most of the tenants, there is no charge, but the county requires them to provide their services to residents at no cost in exchange for the space.
Other tenants of the building include the Boise, Meridian and Garden City police, St. Luke’s and Saint Alphonsus, and the Ada County Sheriff’s Office. The 6th Street building will continue to offer Victim Center support services, such as counseling care and legal assistance, according to the county. The center is not moving.
”The comprehensive and critically important victim services will continue to be uninterrupted and unchanged,” said Elizabeth Duncan, Ada County spokesperson.
For the past 17 years, the Faces of Hope Foundation had a licensing agreement with the county to provide services to victims of violence and abuse at no charge, but this year the foundation declined to adhere to the Ada County license and partner agreement, according to the county.
Shawna Dunn, chief criminal deputy with the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, said during a meeting with commissioners on Friday that the county sent the licensing agreement to the foundation, which returned “a red-line version” that had “major changes.”
“The changes were considerable and included deletion of the entire partnership/relationship (section),” Dunn said.
Foundation says it will announce future plans soon
Paige Dinger, executive director of the foundation, told the Idaho Statesman in an email that Faces of Hope was surprised by the move and expected to come to a mutual agreement with the county to continue offering services in the building.
“This notice is the first time any intention to either stop the agreement negotiation or remove our services from county property has been mentioned,” Dinger wrote. “We regret the county has decided to move on without needed services provided by Faces of Hope.”
The foundation provides counseling, legal advocacy and resources such as clothing and a place to stay to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, stalking, human trafficking and child abuse. Dinger told the Statesman that last year, the foundation provided services to 1,366 clients and saw 4,820 visits.
Dinger said the foundation would share its next steps “in the coming weeks.”
Ada commissioners cite website, Meridian satellite location
The three Republican commissioners ordered the foundation to leave by Jan. 30, 2024, according to a letter provided to the Statesman.
“Over the past several months, it appears that the Foundation’s priorities have shifted away from supporting the mission and services of FACES and its partners, to focusing heavily on the provision of its own services,” the commissioners wrote.
The commissioners said they also were concerned with the foundation’s use of the same name at its Meridian satellite location, where it can offer services to victims in western Ada County without them having to travel to Boise. The commissioners said victims could be confused if they were looking for the Faces Victim Center in downtown Boise. They said there have not been “fruitful” discussions about the name between the county and foundation.
The Ada County Commission also noted that the Faces foundation placed its individual phone number on the Victim Center website “in such a manner that a victim would be inclined to call that number and not the phone number of the FACES building, which has been the phone number to the front desk since 2006.”
Victims of abuse can reach the Faces Victim Center at 208-577-4400 or the foundation at 208-986-4357.
This story was updated 5:35 p.m. Dec. 18 to include additional comment from the county.
This story was originally published December 15, 2023 at 6:59 PM.
