AGENCIES TO OPEN WOMEN'S SHELTER.

Byline: Elizabeth Aguilera Daily News Staff Writer

Seeking to create a new refuge for battered women and their children in the San Fernando Valley, city officials are teaming up with private agencies to open the largest transition shelter in Los Angeles County.

Harbour Community, which will open in the Northeast Valley by next spring, will be able to provide housing for 38 families for up to 18 months - critical to helping battered women piece together their lives, officials said.

``The sad thing is we need more,'' said Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents the area.

``The San Fernando Valley has 1.5 million people, and with the depth of the domestic violence problem, these beds will not be enough,'' he said.

Alarcon, flanked by representatives from Neighborhood Empowerment and Economic Development (NEED) and Women Advancing the Valley through Education, Economics and Empowerment (WAVE), announced the construction of Harbour Community Wednesday.

Using federal Housing and Urban Development money targeted for low-income housing, the Los Angeles City Housing Department purchased and will revamp a building damaged in the Northridge Earthquake, Alarcon said.

Like other shelters, the exact location was not disclosed for the safety of future residents.

``This was the most effective use of housing dollars, to take dilapidated buildings and use them for a very positive thing,'' Alarcon said.

Upon completion, the $1.7 million transitional housing shelter will be the second transitional shelter for battered women and their children slated to open in the Valley next year.

The first will open in January in the West Valley. Haven Hills, a crisis center for women has been working on the transitional housing project for four years, said Betty Fisher, executive director at Haven Hills.

The Haven Hills shelter will include 26 new units to the program's existing site, Fisher said.

The Harbour Community project will be developed by NEED and WAVE will focus on creating programs for residents including counseling, job training, and social service referrals, said Janet Crook, WAVE's executive director.

``Most women who go back to an abuser do so because they have no place else to go,'' said Crook. ``We want to give them the resources to empower themselves.''

Counseling - especially for the children in these families - is critical, Crook said, adding that children often feel responsible for what is happening.