Minn. domestic violence shelters get $20K grants

Two Minnesota domestic violence shelters are getting national grants from the Dallas, Texas-based Mary Kay Foundation.

The Lakes Crisis and Resource Center in Detroit Lakes and The Refuge Network's Black Dog Hill domestic Abuse Shelter in Cambridge will each receive $20,000. The Detroit Lakes center will use the grant to build a new shelter.

The Mary Kay Foundation is donating a total of $3 million to 150 domestic violence shelters nationwide.

The foundation notes that shelters report more abused women need help during the recession, and that shelters are having a harder time raising funds.

A survey sponsored by the Mary Kay Foundation found that three of four shelters nationwide report an increase in the number of women fleeing abusive relationships, and about half report the abuse is more violent than before the recession began.