NATCHEZ &045; Each year, the Catholic Charities’ Guardian Shelter helps hundreds of women and children leaving abusive situations become independent again with shelter and supportive services.

And the shelter just received $100,000 more from the state’s Emergency Shelter Grant program, enabling it to continue giving those families a place to stay and food to eat.

ESG funds can pay for many of the incidental expenses the organization’s other grants cannot, such as utility bills, said Martha Mitternight, executive director of Catholic Charities.

&uot;A lot of the money can also be used for direct financial assistance for the women as they move (from the shelter) into a transitional or permanent housing situation,&uot; Mitternight said.

The shelter gives women and their children an emergency place to stay for up to 30 days.

Last year, the shelter served 138 women and 180 children, providing everything from shelter to child care to transportation.

That number that has remained steady over the past few years, with most of the women hailing from southwest Mississippi and Concordia Parish.

The shelter counts on the $100,000 it gets each year from ESG to help make that happen.

The nonprofit also receives hundreds of thousands of dollars from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, various state departments, private donations and a myriad of other sources to help make ends meet.

Other funds come from the shelter’s own thrift shop, The Guardian Collection, which is located on Franklin Street.