Two decades ago, in September 1995, Parkites reeled at the news of Patricia Blanchard’s rape and strangulation in her bedroom. Just five years prior, a seeming instant in our serene mountain town, Nadalee Noble had been shot twice in the head as she walked through a grocery store parking lot.

The deaths of these two local women—each at the hands of her respective estranged husband—led to the formation of a Domestic Peace Task Force and the opening later in 1995 of the Peace House, a refuge for victims of domestic violence. Since then, the Peace House (24-hour helpline: 800.647.9161) has housed hundreds of women and children fleeing domestic abuse and provided counseling services to thousands more through outreach efforts in Park City, Kamas, Coalville, and Heber City.

In June 2017, the Peace House embarked on its next chapter, when more than 100 people gathered to witness the groundbreaking of its new 42,000-square-foot community campus, located next to the Park City Medical Center. The new building, slated to open in late 2018, will meet the need for additional transitional housing and transform the Peace House’s mission from a last-chance safe harbor—the focus at the Peace House’s current shelter in its undisclosed location—to proactive protection and prevention, says Kendra Wyckoff, Peace House executive director. “We hope that by making the Peace House more accessible to the community, we can help people connect with the services we offer much earlier.”

To contribute to Thrive, the capital campaign to fund the new Peace House campus as well as ongoing programs, visit peacehouse.org.