Budget cuts have left abuse victims to rely on volunteers

"You did it just because it was what needed to be done," he said.

Advocates for abuse victims in this town in the Sierra Nevada foothills are again relying on the love-thy-neighbor generosity of people like the Baileys as the area's only domestic violence shelter has been closed because of California's budget crisis.

Bailey said that before he and his wife, Lois, 92, started opening the doors of their Grass Valley home, there were almost no services available for domestic assault victims except for the emergency measures taken by local law enforcement.

"They were pretty distraught because they came out of a crisis situation," he said.

The work Bailey and others did predated the arrival of groups such as the local victims' resource, The Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Coalition, which operated the shelter and now coordinates the safe house network. The Coalition provides a range of services, including a 24-hour crisis line, legal aid and support groups.

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