CISCO - The original idea was for Jennifer Courson to operate a thrift store to raise money for a shelter for women and children in the same century-old brick building on the small town's main drag.

But after a battered woman showed up at the thrift store one evening, Courson and Willow Tree Missions board members decided it would be better to find a separate building to house victims of domestic violence.

"I didn't want the children to see the ugly side of things, to protect their innocence," Courson said during an interview at the store.

While leaders of the faith-based nonprofit group would consider opening their shelter at other Piatt County locations, their first choice is Monticello, the county seat.

"Monticello would be perfect because everything is right there," Courson said, adding that the county's largest town contains the courts, city police department, county sheriff's office and Kirby Hospital.

Without a shelter in the county, domestic violence victims have to use shelters elsewhere, mostly in Decatur or Urbana. Moving children far away from their homes often adds to the traumatic impact of abuse, Courson said.

"The goal is to keep them in the schools, with their friends and the people they trust," Courson said. "They need stability in the midst of crisis."

Suzanne Wells, Willow Tree board president, said there is an apparent need for shelter services in the county.

"We have had people inquire for emergency housing," said Wells, a Monticello-based attorney. "Now there are people who have put up victims in their homes. We have put victims in hotels. But that's not a good situation because they don't get any support."

Wells said that, ideally, the shelter could be placed in a large, single-family home.

"We'd like to be able to accommodate up to six families at a time," Wells said. "Some women may be there a few nights; some, a few weeks."

While the thrift store has been thriving, with its unique offer of all items priced at 25 cents, it has not raised enough money to purchase a new building. Courson said the store has moved as many as 2,000 to 3,000 items in a single day, but the operating expenses associated with the old building have eaten up much of that income.

The thrift store is staffed entirely by volunteers. New volunteers are always welcome.

Because a massive number of items have been donated, Courson has distributed clothes and bedding to local nursing homes, regional homeless shelters, hurricane victims in Texas and overseas orphanages.

But the main focus of Willow Tree is to open a new shelter.

"The need is there now," Wells said. "Every day that goes by, people are falling through the cracks."

hfreeman@herald-review.com|421-6985