Marla’s Place
The Marla R. Johnson Family Housing Center opened in 2022 and is named after long-time HCWC Executive Director Marla Johnson, whose vision was to build a safe haven for families to get a new start to life after escaping domestic violence in their home.
Affordable housing in Hays and Caldwell counties is incredibly difficult to find in an ideal situation; factor in the additional safety needs required for a victim of abuse, attempting to leave an abuser, and it becomes near impossible.
Often mothers are willing to return to a situation that is unsafe for themselves to ensure that their children have a roof over their heads.
A Community Who Cares
Thanks to the endless work of our HCWC staff, volunteers, Board of Directors, Transitional Housing Steering Committee, Community Partners, and the greater community as a whole, we are able to provide those in our community who have experienced violence and abuse affordable housing while they put the pieces of their lives back together and move forward with strength and hope.
Marla’s Place provides:
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An 18 unit housing complex, custom built for safety and security in a comfortable and relaxing environment — all connected to our main campus in San Marcos.
- Exemplary childcare and early education through on-site Early Head Start program provided by Community Action, Inc, the very first of it’s kind on a domestic violence campus.
- Free counseling and advocacy services with access to individual life planning and goal setting, job training, life skills classes, and access to continuing education through our existing community partnerships.
But the Work Isn’t Over
Even though Marla’s Place is built, the work of continuing to change lives continues at HCWC.
We want to invite the community, including you, to continue making this dream a reality. We can all do our part to make sure families don’t have to stay in abusive homes.
Housing Registry
We are asking the public to help by donating items which will be needed for each of the 18 apartment units at Marla’s Place. Much thought and energy has gone into this list, so please purchase the items from the links provided on this page by clicking here.
Donate to Support Families!
In the Media
We want to thank all the media outlets who have helped us spread the word about this project. Here are some of the articles: