Eleven domestic violence centers in the state were awarded $10 million in grant money this week from the Florida Department of Children and Families.

One of the recipients was the Abuse Counseling and Treatment Center (ACT) in Fort Myers was awarded more than $200,000 from the state to make room for more women in the community seeking refuge from domestic violence.

The Center’s CEO, Jennifer Benton, said the money was greatly needed.

“Funding this year has been a really tough year, I think, for all agencies,” she said.

Benton said a lot of this money will be used to open a shelter in Hendry County.  She said ACT used to have a safe house there, but several years ago funding issues led to its closure.

“We’ve been wanting and had in our plans to have a shelter in Hendry County,” she said.

Benton said domestic violence victims in Hendry have had to use the Lee County shelter.

“What we were seeing is people—and we understand how they feel—if you live in Hendry County or you live in Glades County, you hate to move out of your community even though you have to move out of your home to be safe,” she said.

The grants are aimed at creating 278 more beds in shelters statewide and serve an additional 2,200 domestic violence survivors and their children.

Last year more than 100,000 cases of domestic violence were reported in Florida.