CHILDREN OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TO GET REFUGE.

Byline: Eric Nelson  Staff Writer

MISSION HILLS - Hoping to end domestic violence with its youngest victims, a San Fernando Valley women's organization announced plans Wednesday to build a child development center that will provide counseling and instruction for up to 60 children.

``The only way we can turn back the cycle of violence is to provide comprehensive services,'' said Corina Alarcon, board president of women Advancing the Valley through Education, Economics and Empowerment.

The Mission Hills-based group operates a transitional shelter in the northeast Valley for 175 battered women and their children, the largest such program of its kind in the state.

Alarcon said the group expects to complete construction in October on one of two sites in the northeast Valley that will comprise the $1.25 million center. A state law aimed at protecting victims prohibits the disclosure of locations of domestic violence facilities.

She spoke at a ``ground breaking'' ceremony in the courtyard of WAVE's Harbour Community shelter, which is located near the planned child development center. WAVE board members named the center after Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City, whom Alarcon credited with securing $150,000 earmarked for domestic violence programs from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

At his request, the group also dedicated the building to Cardenas' late mother, Maria Cardenas, who successfully raised 11 children.

The bulk of the center's funding came in the form of a $1 million grant from the state Families Moving to Work Program. The shelter itself is supported by state, county and city funds, as well as contributions from private foundations, businesses and individuals.

Among the speakers at Wednesday's event was Sandra, a shelter resident whose last name was withheld to protect her and her younger children from their abusers.

Sandra recounted how the father of her 9-year-old daughter fired a bullet that shattered her leg, leaving her to recover in a wheelchair for two years - the same length of time her assailant spent in jail. Despite her suffering, Sandra said she could imagine no better life for herself.

``It was OK for you to shoot me, it was OK for you to beat me, because I know you love me,'' was the attitude she carried into her relationships, she said.

The child development center will provide a safe, healthy environment for the children of women like Sandra while their mothers work or attend classes, Alarcon explained.

She said 8 million children in the United States grow up in abusive environments, and research has shown those children are 74 percent more likely to commit assault as adults.

``We can teach them what it's like to live in an abuse-free environment,'' Alarcon said.

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Photo: Members of the Cardenas family hold a model of the new Tony Cardenas Child Development Center in San Fernando Wednesday. The center is dedicated to Cardena's mother Maria.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News