CENTER RELIES ON DONORS.

Byline: Kathleen Sweeney Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Faced with financial crisis after the delay in passing the state budget, the Domestic Violence Center of the Santa Clarita Valley is relying on donations to keep its doors open.

The shelter was recently awarded $1,000 by the Blue Shield of California Foundation, which is distributing nearly $140,000 in contributions to every domestic violence shelter that receives state funds. The Santa Clarita shelter also has been collecting money from local businesses and residents, as well as relying on fund-raisers, such as tonight's car wash and candlelight vigil at the Valencia AutoSpa, to keep it in service.

``To have our doors open means that the children of the Santa Clarita Valley, when their mothers are in crisis, have a safe place to come,'' said Kathie Mathis, the shelter's executive director.

Domestic violence affects one in every four women sometime during their life, and one in three girls will experience dating violence, experts said. It's also the leading cause of injury to women from 15 to 44.

The number of reported cases of domestic violence in Santa Clarita increased to 731 in 2001, indicating that it's important to remember that these incidents are not isolated, officials said.

People become abusers as a result of their upbringing and are not born to become one, Mathis said. About 75 percent of men who attend a batterer's program witnessed their mothers being abused as children, and about 63 percent of teenage boys who are incarcerated for murder are there for killing their mother's batterer.

``I don't think people understand that domestic violence is child abuse,'' Mathis said.

In observance of domestic violence awareness month, the shelter is inviting residents to take a stand against violence and help wash cars and participate in the vigil to remember the victims, Mathis said. The wash begins at 6 p.m. at 23440 Valencia Blvd. The vigil begins at 8 p.m.

This comes in the wake of the slaying of Laticia Vasquez, a 21-year-old woman who was seeking shelter in Santa Clarita, officials said. Her estranged husband fatally stabbed her a few weeks later outside the Santa Monica police station where she was meeting him to drop off their 6-year- old son for a court-ordered visitation. The child witnessed the slaying.

``Domestic violence is a public-health issue that transcends gender, ethnic, racial and social economic boundaries,'' Mathis said. ``A batterer is someone who needs power and control, who has no concept of equality in relationships and has usually witnessed abuse as a child.''