Willow Domestic Violence Center will open its new Family Justice Center on Tuesday at Skyview on the Ridge in Irondequoit, consolidating police, prosecutors, crisis counselors and medical exam services into a single 14,000-square-foot facility. Officials describe the center as a hub meant to end the scramble survivors once faced navigating separate agencies scattered across the Rochester area for help fleeing domestic violence, human trafficking or gender-based abuse.
The facility brings together representatives from the Greece and Rochester police departments, the Monroe County District Attorney's Office, and the city's crisis intervention services unit, alongside a medical examination room and Willow's hotline service, according to WXXI News. Willow Domestic Violence Center is the sole New York State-certified domestic violence service provider operating in Monroe County, reaching more than 15,000 individuals each year, according to Willow Domestic Violence Center. Willow president Meaghan de Chateauvieux told the station the center will be “a game changer for survivors in the community,” a sharp contrast to the agency's current East Avenue administrative offices, which she described as offering few on-site services beyond connecting survivors with advocates for legal and financial processes — a process she called “awkward and not efficient.”
A Decades-Old Idea Finally Gets Built
The idea for a family justice center in Monroe County was first floated back in the 1990s, per the same WXXI report, long before it finally secured funding. The American Rescue Plan Act contributed $1.5 million toward the project in 2022, and in September 2024, state Senator Samra Brouk and Assemblymember Sarah Clark secured $4.2 million in state capital grant funding, with $2.2 million going directly to Willow and $2 million to The Child Advocacy Center of Greater Rochester, according to the New York State Assembly. Rochester-based Mitchell Design Build served as the design-build contractor for the 16,000-square-foot structure, according to Mitchell Design Build, a figure that differs slightly from the 14,000-square-foot size cited by WXXI News.
The center is co-located with The Child Advocacy Center of Greater Rochester, formerly known as Bivona Child Advocacy Center, which integrates specialized child trauma screening, forensic exams and ongoing therapy alongside adult domestic violence services, per The Child Advocacy Center of Greater Rochester. That partnership means a family arriving in crisis can, in theory, access both adult and pediatric trauma care without being sent to a different building across town.
Security Built Around A Published Address
Because the Family Justice Center has a published address, unlike Willow's shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence, which keeps its location confidential, the building was designed with heavy security in mind. The facility has about 60 surveillance cameras and half-inch-thick bulletproof glass installed in public-facing areas, de Chateauvieux told the station, calling those measures necessary precisely because the center's location is public knowledge.
Those security investments arrive alongside a separate regional push on public safety infrastructure. In December 2025, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office launched the Regional Investigative Operations Center, a real-time crime center designed to coordinate multi-agency law enforcement responses and threat analysis across the county, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
Demand Already Outpacing Benchmarks
A Substantial Need The need is substantial. Monroe County sees about 2.5 times more domestic-violence-related emergency calls per year than the state average, and 911 received 37,354 calls regarding domestic disputes in 2025, with authorities recording 4,481 reports of domestic violence that year, per Willow's latest report as cited by WXXI News.
De Chateauvieux said predicting how many clients the center will serve annually is difficult, since daily walk-in attendance could range from one person to 100. Still, she said Willow is prepared for whatever volume arrives.
Part Of A Broader Civic Reinvention
The new center sits inside Skyview on the Ridge, the redeveloped former Irondequoit Mall campus that now also houses the Town of Irondequoit Community Center, Rochester Regional Health's nursing school and PathStone specialized housing, according to Monroe County Economic Development. State officials have announced $1.3 million to build a 25,000-square-foot Goodwill retail store and donation center there, according to the New York State Senate.
Willow itself has evolved considerably since its founding. The organization operated for nearly 40 years as Alternatives for Battered Women before rebranding in May 2015 to broaden its identity and explicitly include male, transgender, LGBTQ+ and youth survivors, per Willow Domestic Violence Center's own account. The first family justice center opened in San Diego in 2002, and the model has since spread to cities across the country, including Buffalo and every borough of New York City. Studies have suggested the approach can help reduce domestic-violence-related homicides and improve outcomes for survivors seeking services, according to WXXI News.
